The Gate: the Other Side of the Coin
by GETH Prime
Summary: The JSDF weren't the first foreigners in Falmart. Hidden in the eastern deserts, a ragtag Mechanized Penal Battalion of an alien civilization had already staked their claim. Both were unaware of the other's existence until a botched robbery and an unintentional rescue mission brought them together Meanwhile, the Exiled Prince Zorzal plots for his revenge...
1. Meet the 19th Mechanized

**Hello everyone! I am actually a writer from JPHIP by the name of Hackata48 and I have some experience writing Fanfics (starring AKB back then). Now I have decided to start another Fanfic here in since this is the site that got me into Fanfics to begin with.**

 **Let's get to the point shall we: I love the Gate (not Steins! The one with the JSDF! I hate that I keep hitting Steins at search (no offence to any fans though)) I had always wished for a 3** **rd** **season and maybe we will get one soon! (Cross fingers) But at the meantime, here's what I would write for the hypothetical 3** **rd** **season. I hope you enjoy the 19** **th** **Mechanized adventures with 3** **rd** **Recon in Falmart!**

 **Pls like and review!**

It has been about a month after the JSDF successfully kicked out Prince Zorzal out of power from his throne in Sadera after his coup. The JSDF have been conducting trade and heart and minds operations to the people of Falmart thanks to the supportive hand of now Empress Pina Co Lada. Itami Yoji has been doing practically nothing but guard patrols around Alnus and reading Manga ever since he returned. Lelei has now become one of Falmart's leading scholars thanks to her insights of the application of the Laws of Physics into magic. Tuka and Yao have gotten over their trauma of the fire dragon that nearly killed them and are on the road to recovery. Rory has been also helping Itami out on his patrols around the base as usual and her personality pretty much remained the same.

We know join Itami now in his natural environment….

"Itami! It's Suguwara's birthday today and he has invited us to the Jade Palace to celebrate." Shino Kuribayashi said behind Itami who was lazily sleeping on his chair at the JSDF's HQ in the Special Region.

"Damnit! Kuribiyashi-san! I was having a nice dream where Lelei, Rory and Tuka became Idols and I am there manager." Itami said.

"Oh don't be so shut in Lieutenant. There's going to be so much food there! Beer, Sake, Wine for everyone. The Maids will be there and nearly everyone is attending, I even told Lelei, Rory, Tuka and Yao and they all said yes. Plus, General Hazama insisted you go there too." Shino said.

"Fine! If he insists." Itami said standing up from his chair and grabbing his Military Fatigues.

(At the Jade Palace)

Not a single dull face was seen in Suguwara's Birthday party in the Jade Palace. Almost every important person was in attendance from the Saderan Elites, foreign diplomats from the other nations of Earth, the Rose Knights except Pina since she is currently attending her duties as Empress to reverse the problems that Zorzal left behind and high ranking JSDF Personnel.

The food was lined up in long buffet table that ranged from local cuisine, Japanese food and food from the other countries that the international diplomats brought with them. Some were sent by governments while others were brand ambassadors who introduced them to their products. The Special Region nobles are now beginning to indulge themselves with Haagen Daz and Jack Daniel's Whisky.

"This…. 'Ayse-Krem'. It tastes really good!" said one noble to the brand ambassador of Haagen Daz Ice Cream.

"Can I have more of this 'Whisky' please? I must have more." Said another.

The party had been going on for a while now and Itami and all of his friends were in a corner of the room chatting and just having fun. Until one of his friends, the old but veteran soldier, Soichiro Kuwahara began to talk about a serious topic.

"It's too bad that we didn't get Zorzal. I wanted to see him pay for what he did to Noriko. And God only knows what happened to those other slaves especially the females." He said.

Zorzal had kept dozens of women who were taken during the failed Ginza attack to be kept as his sex slaves. Only Noriko was the only one of the forty-four women that the JSDF were able to get back. They tried to search for these other forty-three women throughout the month but they ran out of leads and assumed they were all dead or lost forever. The Japanese government had to pull off a few Political maneuvers to mitigate this failure when he spoke to the families of the missing women.

"I honestly wanted to clobber his face until it caved in if it wasn't for that stupid bunny bitch blocking the way." Shino cracked her knuckles and grinned angrily as she remembered the feel of punching Zorzal who was fondly named 'the Douchebag Prince' by some of the potty mouthed soldiers in JSDF.

"I can drink to that!" Itami raised his mug of beer to the air. His brain's cells were having a field day trying to keep him from falling overboard with his alcohol.

"Itami! The cake is here!" Tuka said.

The group stood up from their chairs and head to the center of the room where a large cake was being pushed into the room. Sugawara looked very happy that his birthday cake was his favorite flavor of Oreo Cheesecake. The Earth guests then began to sing 'Happy Birthday' to him which also prompted the Falmart natives to sing along as best as they could.

" _Happy Birthday to you_

 _Happy Birthday to you_

 _Happy Birthday Suguwara,_

 _Happy Birthday to you!"_

Suguwara blew the candles of his cake and a loud applause from the guests roared the room. After the blowing of candles, Suguwara began to accept gifts. It ranged from an expensive gold watch, jewelry native to the Special region, food and a curiously strange looking sword that was given to Suguwara from Senator Cicero La Moltose.

"This for bringing my son back safely Suguwara. Me and my wife were worried about him." He said as he bowed down to him and pushed his arms forward to present the sword.

The Japanese Diplomat took the weapon and unsheathed it. He was in awe by the sword's elegant beauty and the strange wavy pattern that was embedded to the metal. The sword looked like a sabre meant for cutting and slashing and it was as long as the distance between his neck to his feet.

"Thank you Senator. I hope your son is okay now. Tell me, I have never seen this sword before so can you tell me more about this?" Suguwara asked.

"Well, I wanted to give you a sword as a gift back since you gave me a Katana months ago to show in good faith to me, my family and the rest of the Empire. I had one of my servants acquire this blade from the Taifa of Heopis in the eastern deserts near where the Warrior Bunnies used to be. This sword was used by the elite Cataphracts of the Heopis Cavalry and it could cut through anything, even dragon skin." Cicero said.

"What is it made of?"

"I even asked that question to my servant. The sword can only be bought directly from the Prince there. The Prince told my servant he doesn't even know where the steel used for the swords comes from too."

(Meanwhile, somewhere in the Taifa of Heopis)

The young prince of the Taifa of Heopis Kayden and a small escort of trusted bodyguards and servants rode through the desert night to a large rock formation in the middle of the desert. It wasn't his first time doing this trip as he already knows where to go.

He and his men went to a shadowy part of the rock formation that he always approached with caution.

"Flash!" said a voice from the shadows behind the rocks.

"Thunder!" Kayden replied.

"Welcome again to _Akmens_ again your highness. Major Barussa is expecting you." The voice said in a hospitable tone.

Lights suddenly turned on from the shadows that slightly blinded the prince and his escort revealing a metal door which opened for him. He walked inside boldly with his men as they walked inside the hidden base of the 19th Mechanized Battalion of the Federal Planets of Cygni system.

 _The Cygni Federation is a rising empire that has now began to start a period of expansion to other planets in a policy called 'Izplesanas'. Many expeditions conducted by both the private sectors and the government had reaped many rewards from their journeys such as new resources and land to make farms for themselves. Due to the ever growing hunger of the Cygni Federation and the lack of recruits for the military, their government has decided to solve that problem with another problem they have that was byproduct of their expansionist policies._

 _Usually, when nations expand to colonialism, naturally, the reach of the law thins out which birthed many lawless elements throughout the planets. What started as petty thievery soon escalated when smuggling cartels rose from the Cygni's void of law enforcement with their colonies. Many of the outlaws were demonized or feared by the public. Corruption brewed throughout the colonies with blood money and monopolizing cartels controlling the prices of the valuable goods sold._

 _To combat this, the Cygni Federation launched a crackdown on crime with many criminals killed, arrested or laying low in fear of getting shot on sight. The colonies soon became the Wild West where the gun became the law. Faced with a surge of criminals, many of whom are able bodied, the government decided to offer a deal to the criminals._

 _If they spend five years of service in the military and live through the end, they will get a pardon, a clean slate and a pension. This integration program was called 'Iesloditaz Karavirs' or the Prisoner Soldier program. Many of the criminals who went through basic training were given harsher than usual training from the normal law-abiding soldiers. Many of them died in training but those who survived were molded into disciplined and lethal soldiers that the Cygni's can look upon with pride. They were then transferred to designated battalions called 'Penal Battalions' that participated in this program._

 _The 19_ _th_ _mechanized was one such battalion…_

"Hello everyone." Prince Kayden greeted the soldiers.

He has known these men for about two years now and have kept their base a close guarded state secret in the Taifa. He normally gives them food and a permit to mine and extract crude oil from the ground in exchange for a share of the minerals extracted and goods sold by the Cygni's.

"Ah! The _Mazais princis_ Kayden. You arrived, is our contract renewed again if I may ask now?" Major Barussa asked.

 _Barussa was an experienced leader and tactician who specialized in vehicular warfare. He was integrated into the Prisoner Soldier program due to his history of being a leader of weapons smugglers and robbers. He slowly rose through the ranks and demonstrated his ability to maneuver vehicles through hazardous terrain at speeds unmatched by any commander in the Cygni Federation Military thanks to his smuggling skills. He loved the thrill of adventure that was given to him in the program so much he even encouraged his entire Cartel to turn themselves in join him._

 _Other than being a good leader and a driver, he is also a very shrewd business man and occasionally makes some rather shady deals with the local powers of Falmart behind his government's back for his own profit._

"Indeed I do. Here it is and the steel?" Kayden asked.

"From across the stars here and ready to be turned into 'Heopic Steel'. You did keep our little secret right?" Barussa said.

"It's getting harder to lie by the day. Many people have been asking me what's my secret until I could no longer sleep at night well." Kayden said.

The Major only lay his hand on his shoulder and whispered to his ear.

"You know we can't afford to reveal ourselves. It will become impossible for us to keep our little operation going you know."

"I know, but some of the other nobles are questioning where I got this steel to begin with."

"Just keep holding your piss." Barussa cussed.

"Hold my piss?" Kayden asked confused.

"Just keep it okay? It's for the good of our…. 'mutual friendship'. And I almost forgot! We dealt with those bandit gang and I can I have our rightful reward for taking them out." Barussa reminded the prince.

"Yes, servant!" the prince clapped his hands and a gold and bejeweled medallion was brought forth to him.

"Your reward." He presented to the Major.

Barussa looked at the medallion at with a wide eye on its details. It was a magnificent piece of jewelry that reflected the light in the dimly lit cavern inside the battalions hidden base in the desert.

"I can sell this for a few hundred thousand back home. But how much is it…. Where is Ludvig?" Barussa ordered.

(Meanwhile in another part of the base)

"I am going to hit you for every sheep you stole from Old Man Al-Hassan!" Rainier said. "If you live, I let you go. But trust me, you won't."

 _Gunnery Sergeant Rainier was one of the people from Barussa's Cartel to join the Prisoner Soldier program. His average height and youthful 23-year-old (in Cygni years) body made him look nothing special to anyone outside of the Barussa Cartel. But that was a mistake that was rarely made twice by Barussa's rivals. Rainier is actually one of the Cartel's most brutal enforcers. He has extorted, robbed, vandalized, murdered, nearly every prominent person in the Barussa Cartel's home planet of Agir._

 _He is the last person that you would want to have be your torturer…_

Rainier repeatedly struck a bound desert raider who was caught trying to steal local livestock from a ranch that the battalion often gets their meat from. And believe me, they really love to eat Lamb Pies for dinner after a hard day in the baking heat of the desert and by God, they are going to make sure that they always have lamb pie.

"Can you keep the swatting to a minimum? Your waking me up!" Ludvig said.

 _Corporal Ludvig was a skilled pickpocket and snitch for the Barussa Cartel. He as light-footed as he is as a light sleeper. He is considered the fastest runner in the entire battalion and was said that he is as fast as one of their many BMP's when throttled to top speed which is a rumor that he always denies. But that didn't stop them from being called 'Quick'. Due to his thievery expertise, he is also the Cartel's resident appraiser of valuable loot before the Prisoner Soldier program._

"Learn to sleep somewhere else Lud!" Rainier spoke loudly much to Ludvig's discomfort.

"But this is the only quiet place in the entire base Rain. I am going to be at recon duty tomorrow morning and I can't oversleep otherwise Barussa won't give me breakfast." Ludvig argued.

"He is right you know. Try to lessen the screaming." Barussa walked into the room with prince Kayden.

The two soldiers in the torture room stood up and saluted their commanding officer.

"At ease men. Ludvig, sorry to wake you up right now but I need you to see this medal. How much is it worth back home?" Barussa showed the medallion to Ludvig.

"Around 300 'K to 600 'K." Ludvig said.

"Yes! We can now get those new Tank's I always wanted to drive around haha! I need to grease those palms off of those snooty requisitions officers later." Barussa smiled.

Behind the Major, Prince Kayden was listening to one of his servants who whispered into his ear. His calm face soon turned into anger when he yelled:

"What?!"

"You seemed to wake up from the wrong side of your cot." Rainier said.

"What seems to be the trouble?" Ludvig asked.

"That Bastard Melendi! He promised me that I will get to have my grandfather's old necklace back but he said that some Crime Lords from a place called Akusho are offering him more money so that they can have it themselves!" Kayden said.

"What's so special of this necklace?" asked Barussa.

"The Taifa had once participated in a war against the Saderan Empire about a century ago. My grandfather who was leading our army died in battle. He wore a necklace with a large diamond at its centered that we called 'the Eyes of Heopis' as a protection charm when he was off to battle. When the Saderans killed him, they took it and placed them in their vaults in their city. It's worth millions of gold coins as the diamond necklace is one of a kind. Melendi promised that I will get it but no! He is planning to sell it to those barbaric Saderans!" Kayden said.

"Is there a way we can help you? You know we have always helped in your more 'personal' problems." Barussa offered.

The prince talked with his servant again for a minute in their native tongues while the Cygnis waited for him patiently.

"Melendi is planning to hold an auction with the Crime Lords in a city at the heart of Sadera in a few weeks. I think we should get into that auction, see if I can out bid those Crime Lords and run off with my family heirloom." Kayden planned.

"Me…. You mean us right?" Barussa grinned in an eager smile.

"Yes and if things go badly for us, well do what you do best." Kayden said.

"With pleasure, tell me. Where exactly in Sadera will this auction take place?" Barussa asked.

" **Alnus…. Alnus Hill"**

 **I hope this chapter is a good pilot!**

 **Please review and feel free to ask me questions.**

 **TY**


	2. The Alnus Job

**Hello again one and all to Chapter 2! I will continue writing this story again so sit tight!**

 **I also want to apologize for an error in my previous chapter, I thought the desert region of Falmart was in the East when it was actually the West.**

 **Plus, some music would be appropriate for this one**

 **-Hack/Geth Prime**

(1 week later and a very long and boring trip through the mountains)

Barussa's team rode along an RVC-Dragoon 90 on the dirt road to Alnus. The Wheeled Fire Support vehicle was a maneuverable car with a 105 mm cannon that can shoot from a kilometer away. He chose Ludvig and Rainier to come with him while Janis drives the car and Andris manning the turret.

 _Janis was a get-away driver before he joined the battalion. He can navigate almost anykind of terrain and he always seems to be ahead of those who pursue him. His Dragoon was modified by his own personal touches with better suspension, the best quality all terrain tires money can buy, and a covering of adaptive camouflage paint that changes color depending on terrain, weather and other environmental factors. (And this stuff ain't cheap!)_

 _His Dragoon often is given the task of reconnaissance and also transporting special operatives to their destination and out._

 _Andris in the other hand is a man who speaks more in grunts and other noises that his mouth can produce. That is because before joining the army, he was imprisoned in one of Cygni's most isolated prisons where only the worst of the worst were imprisoned. His crime was basically 'Pest Controlling' the woods where his home used to be. And when I mean Pest Controlling, I mean murdering campers who decided to spend the weekend there. The place was called 'Forest Naves' before the local police him red handed with a dead camper on his hand. Despite the lack of communication problems with him when he was made to join the army due to an overcrowding of prison, Andris has been obedient and very disciplined soldier._

 _Thanks to the skills he acquired during his solitary confinement days, Andris is also a qualified handyman around the base, fixing some of its structures and helping the armory boys perform maintenance with the guns. He can also be found tinkering near the engineering bay making bear traps that Barussa lay around the base as a substitute for the anti-personnel mines when the monthly shipping supply runs late._

"Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" Rainier asked.

"Shut up Rain! I am driving here!" Janis shouted.

"Mmmmrraaaghhhhh!' Andris screamed while covering his ears.

"Oh look at you, you ticked off Andy already!" Ludvig gently pushed Rain to stop him from speaking.

"You quiet down here boys, according to this map we should be able to see this 'Alnus' place. Here, Kayden gave me a map." Barussa said. He laid down a map onto a table where Rainier and Ludvig can see.

"This place is as describe by Kayden is some sort of 'Magical Fortress'. I don't know what he meant as the place got no gate to speak off?" Barussa briefed.

"A fortress without a gate? You might as well bust through and make it explode then?" Rain said.

"Well with the fact that there's no gate aside, the place is crawling with some kind of 'Mages' that the people there call 'the Jay-ess-dee-eef'. Very dangerous in no other word, stay 'F' away." Barussa said.

"Mages? Shouldn't we have brought 'the Protype' with us? I hear it can stop Magic Missiles." Rainier said.

"Trust me Rain, we will pull this off so smoothly anyway."

"The thing hasn't been tested yet your idiot. Besides, the R&D boys won't give it to your clumsy hands since the last time they gave you that flamethrower and melted off the nozzle." Ludvig said.

"I just wanted some beef so fast. I got hungry. So what if I stole it from them for like about ten minutes? At least I tested it for them." Rainier defended himself.

"Quiet now we should be able to be there in about- Crap! Evade!" Janis shouted.

He turned the wheel of the car left hard and fast as he quickly hid the Dragoon near a large growing of bushes.

The entire crew, not expecting the sudden turn felt the forces of gravity push them to the left side of the car. Barussa fell down and bruised his forearms as he landed on Rainier and Ludvig.

"What the-"Ludvig was about to ask.

"Shhhhh!" Andris shushed.

For a brief and tense moment, everyone in the car was silent. Barussa who was awkwardly laying in front of Rainier didn't dare move despite being in a compromising position with him.

"What do you see?" Ludvig asked.

"People, they got…. Guns… sir." Andris said.

"What did you say? Guns? Who is-"Barussa was about to question his soldier when knocked the door at the back of the car.

"Open up! Your surrounded" said a voice in an accent that no one in the car could recognize. It didn't even sound anything that the Cygni's were used to hearing.

"Soldat, we need to keep this quiet. Grab a silencer and kill everyone outside. We can't afford this operation to be compromised now." Barussa said.

Ludvig and Rainier both grabbed a silenced SMG called the Cabihan Silenced Sub-Machine Gun 18 (or the CHSMG-18. Basically think of an AS VAL) from a box and crawled closely and carefully to the door.

"Scanner's say three people, two by the door and one quite far by ten meters away." Janis said.

"Alright, count of three. One…. two…. three!" Rainier shouted. They quickly opened the door of their armored car and shot the two intruders who knocked at their door. They were soldiers who were caught unaware of the sudden surprise of the Motostrelki* who quickly shot them all down.

"12 O clock!" Rainier shouted. He dived in a prone position and quickly shot a burst of his SMG to a soldier who was about to grab an LMG and return fire. The shots found its mark at the man's head.

"Clear!" Barussa declared as he and everyone else in the car got out.

"That was freakin close boss." Ludvig said as he walked up to one of the soldier's that he and Rain killed.

He turned the corpse around to face him began to check for anything he can rob from it. When he pulled his hands to the arm of the mysteriously green cladded soldier he came upon the symbols that were placed on the dead man's sleeve.

"Boss! These are these 'Jay-ees-dee-eff' people you talked about." He said.

"They are? But these are guns. Not them…uhm what do they…. Mage Staffs." Janis said while he picked up one of the JSDF's gun.

"Well the reports say they wield black staffs that they hold like this." Barussa replied. He gestured in the form of a man about to fire a gun.

"So what now? We got people with stuff like ours now?" Rainier stood up.

"Looks like it now. Janis, relocate until I call for you to bail us out. Rain, you're on look out. Don't forget to cover our escape and meet us at the rendezvous." Barussa said.

"Yes sir!" Rainier saluted.

(A few minutes later)

Rainier, wearing a grey cloak to disguise himself walked through the streets of Alnus carrying with him a large one-meter-long heavy briefcase. He was impressed, these 'JSDF' people had many shops were people come and go to buy. He hasn't seen a market as big and cosmopolitan as this. Humans and Demi-humans alike walked around the city and there were no signs of racism in sight. He knew the stories of how the Saderans look down upon non-humans and treated them as second-class citizens but to see a city in the very heart of Sadera without the occasional racist slurs and the rare race on race fights surprised him. He saw more of the JSDF people alongside other strangely dressed people whose vests had the words 'Press' written on the backs of their clothes.

"Rain get into position. Me and Lud are going in an hour. Suggest you scout the place." Barussa called in his radio.

"Well, they got a lot of these JSDF people crawling around the place." Rainier replied.

"How many?"

"Like they own the place kind. You better do this smooth. I never seen this much heat since we robbed the Agir Treasury back home. I think we should raid them at night time when most of them are sleeping." Rainier said.

"Sounds like I got no better choice. Recon the area more and report any new development. Lud and I will hit Melendi at around uhm…. Ten P.M." Barussa said before he ended the call.

Rainier, now left to his own devices. Walked for a few more minutes until he came across a restaurant and decided to walk in.

"Welcome! Table for how many?" a Bunny Girl approached him when she saw him. She had a nametag on her chest which was written: Delilah.

"For me." Rainier said.

The Bunny Girl smiled and guided him to his seat and offered him a menu filled with many delectable treats that were alien to him. He asked the Bunny Girl what they were and what she would suggest to eat. Delilah was always smiling at him which comforted Rainier.

"And this is from Japan in which they call it 'Sashimi'." Delilah said.

"Japan? Where is that?"

"Well, it's a long story. You see, there is this big gate that opened at the center of Alnus where these men in green came out. They came from a place called Japan and they built this city and invited many people to settle here and if you believe me, they treated us non-humans better, way better than the Saderans. I heard stories of them slaying a dragon with a giant iron cock, took down an entire legion and more." Delilah said.

"Sounds to me they must be fun to play with. Hey, why is everyone looking at me funny?" Rainier asked when he noticed the people in the restaurant were staring at him.

"It's your bag of yours on the ground. Looks quite big. What's inside?" Delilah asked.

"My personal belongings. You mind your own business and pass me some food and drink and don't talk about my bag."

(At 10 PM)

Night time fell on Alnus as Barussa and Ludvig infiltrated Alnus. They managed to get past the JSDF patrols and reached Melendi's house. They spotted several mercenaries who guarded the house and easily dispatched them. Once clear the two silently opened the door of the house and began to sweep the room killing everyone they came across.

"Clear!" Ludvig said after taking out a sleeping mercenary with his CHSMG-18.

"This is Melendi's room. I see lights below the door and he should be alone. He is mine." Barussa said.

He kicked open the door which caught Melendi off guard. The crooked dealer tried to grab his sword but Barussa tucked his CHSMG-18 's barrel by his throat with his finger near the trigger.

"Who are you?" Melendi asked.

"Eye of Heopis! Where is it?" Barussa shouted.

"In your mother's house!" Melendi defiantly replied.

Yet Barussa was more than just a soldier. He is an ex-criminal and he knows how to make other criminals talked. He aimed his SMG at Melendi's knee and shot a round at him causing the dealer to fall down in pain and clutch his knee.

"You bastard! I will kill you for this…." Melendi gnashed his teeth in pain.

Barussa grabbed Melendi by his throat and pinned him to the wall.

"Arrow to the knee huh? How about a bullet? Hurts doesn't it? If you wanna keep the other knee you tell me where is the Eye?"

"That safe below my desk. The key is at my pocket if you want it that bad! There, I told you everything you want. You can't kill me please." Melendi begged.

Barussa briefly looked behind him and saw the safe before he returned his gaze on Melendi.

"I got a message from Prince Kayden. He says: Our partnership is over!" Barussa said. He forcefully pushed Melendi's throat, breaking his neck and killing him. He grabbed his keys and unlocked the safe where the Eye of Heopis was there. It was indeed a marvelous jewel that Barussa honestly wanted to keep for himself, but he made a deal with Kayden to give it back to him so he had to keep his end of the deal. He grabbed the necklace and walked down stairs where Ludvig was waiting for him.

He was busy pouring lantern fluids around the building and just finished making the place ready to burnt down.

"House set to burn as you said boss. Ready to lit up like a birthday cake." Ludvig said. He lit up his lighter from his pocket.

"Good, burn it down." Barussa ordered.

Ludvig smiled and threw the lighter away causing the house to erupt in flames as they ran with haste out of the house for extraction.

 **(JSDF POV)**

(3 Minutes later)

The fire alarms sounded the Alnus Base as Itami, Kurata, Kuribiyashi and Kuwahara on a HMV sped through the streets. They had heard of a fire alarm which is slowly eating up an entire block of buildings. Panic was arising among civilians as the soldiers were called to evacuate the people and stop any lootings from happening while the fire fighters do their job.

"This is the first fire incident ever here." Kurata said.

"Good thing we got those Fire Trucks that the Tokyo Fire Department gave us." Kuwahara said.

"We need to bring order from chaos when we get there. Kuribiyashi, Kurata, get the people out of here when you get there. We better do this right because those Journalists keeps hounding at us waiting for a screw up like this to happen." Itami said.

Several journalists from Japan and international news outlets have come through the gate to report on the Speical Region. Some of them however would write stories that criticize the JSDF and would often write those stories in such a way that they would paint the JSDF in a bad light. Itami was ordered by his superiors to be a s professional and efficient as possible when he has to be in front of the journalists' haughty eyes. One in particular, a certain Kazunari Komurazaki (you know that snooty guy who met Noriko in episode 20? That SOB) was probably the worst of them all. He worked for a newspaper that often has many Anti-War opinions and were the forefront opposing Japan's remilitarization and constitutional amendments, especially at the part that says that Japan will never have an army but a 'Self Defence Force'.

"Attention to all JSDF personnel within Alnus. Be on the lookout for two suspicious individuals dressed in red and black. Eye witnesses say they saw them running away when the fire began. Capture these suspects alive!" General Hazama said through the radio.

"So this is no accident? Some sort of arson then?" Kurata asked.

"Seems like the sound of it. Itami look out!" Kuribiyashi yelled.

Itami slammed the breaks as the lights of the car revealed a man on the middle of the road. The breaks barely stopped the car which only pushed the man a little bit when it stopped.

Itami was about to breathe a sigh of relief when he notices that the man was dressed in a red and black Flecktarn camouflage. And carrying a strange looking gun on his hands. The man's eyes were widened by the bright lights.

"That's must be one of them!" Kuwahara pointed.

Another man in red and black Flecktarn slide over the hood of the jeep and ran away with the other man that Itami nearly ran over followed him.

"This is Itami, we found the suspects. We are in pursuit!" Itami said on his radio. The squad got out of their car and gave chase to the two suspects.

 **(19** **th** **Mechanized POV)**

 **(Start Playing Brother's Bright 'Blood on my Name')**

"Damnit! That car nearly ran over me!" Ludvig said.

"No way Lud, we need to keep moving and keep you head down." Barussa said.

"Stop! The JSDF orders you to stop and put your hands up!" one of the soldiers who pursued them yelled.

"Not a chance copper!" Barussa yelled back, he fired a burst of his SMG which caused their JSDF pursuers to take cover.

"Rainier! Where are you? We are heading your way and we need covering fire when we reach you." Ludvig said on his communicator.

(Meanwhile near the restaurant, specifically at the men's bathroom)

"Got it!" Rainier confirmed the last transmission and began to get ready. He opened his briefcase to reveal that the contents were an Cabihan LMG and a welding mask with a painted grinning smiley mouth with its teeth gripping a tongue. The LMG is a magazine fed gun that uses a special ammunition that Rainier chooses to feed his gun with. The ammo is made from a radioactive substance which were depleted inside the gun giving it more armor piercing power and a chance of incinerating on what ever got in its way. This gun was Rainier's favorite in his nation's arsenal due to it being able to fire hundreds of rounds before he needs to reload, and Rainier hates to reload.

"Hello beautiful." Rainier said as he knelt down to grab his favorite gun and kissed its barrel. He then grabbed his mask and wore it.

He stood back up and opened the door back to the restaurant. The place was having many customers being served food from off duty JSDF soldiers, foreign dignitaries and Falmart natives. They didn't notice him for a moment until one of the patrons looked at him.

"What in the gods…." 

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Tonights entertainment is brought to you by random acts of violence!" He pulled the trigger of his LMG and began to spray lead at the restaurant.

He didn't try to aim for the civilians. He just wanted his gun start smoking on its barrel so he can 'warm it up'. The patrons and staff kept their heads low as they made their escape.

"Rainier! We are nearing you now. Are you ready?" Ludvig said on the communicator.

"I am here and now!" He shouted as he kicked open the door of the restaurant. He saw his friends being chased by the JSDF.

"Light them up!" Barussa ordered.

Rainier complied and gave suppressing fire at the direction of their pursuers.

-

 **(JSDF POV)**

"Take cover! Enemy machine gunner!" Kuribiyashi yelled.

The squad took cover behind a wall as the hid from the Machine Gunner who wore a mask that has a twisted smile painted on it.

"There's a third tango. I repeat a third tango! He is by the restaurant." Itami yelled on his radio.

"Roger that Lieutenant. I got him on my- AAAAGGGHHH!" a fellow JSDF soldier said on the radio before his radio sounded static.

"Matsui? Hello?" Itami tried to contact the man he was talking to the radio. It was the first respondent to Itami's report on the suspected arsonists. He looked ahead of him and noticed that the masked machine gunner was firing his weapon at the HMV that was Matsui's. The he could see red traces fire from the tango's weapon as it pierced through the armor of the HMV which was supposed to resists conventional small arms. Then suddenly the jeep caught alight in flames and then it exploded.

"This is Itami! We lost Matsui. Tangos have some sort of armor piercing and incendiary ammo. I repeat! Watch out!" Itami said.

"Roger! Neutralize them now!" Hazama said in the radio.

He peeked over the cover to see that the machine gunner was now running away. He got out of his cover and gave chase.

Chased the soldiers down until they reach the outer walls of Alnus where the Motor Pool of the JSDF vehicles were.

"Ha! They got nowhere to run now!" Kuribiyashi said.

 **(19** **th** **Mechanized POV)**

"Here we are! Janis where are you? We need bail now!" Barussa said.

"One minute! Hold your ass 'till then!" Janis said.

They three soldiers held their ground as they fired their weapons at the surrounding JSDF soldiers. Barussa soon ran out of ammo and switched to his revolver pistol.

"Sir we got a giant ass axe above us scatter!" Rainier yelled.

The three rolled away as a giant and clearly oversized halberd landed on where they stood a second ago. The wielder of the axe was a young girl in a Victorian-aged dress with red and black colors just like theirs.

"Who the hell are you?" Barussa asked.

"Rory Mercury, apostle of Emroy." The girl said.

"Shut up and hold still!" Barussa aimed his gun and fired at Rory.

Rory dodged the bullets and charged at him with her axe. Barussa strafed right narrowly dodging Rory who instead met her mark on a nearby fuel depot that the Motor Pool has nearby.

Reacting quickly, Rainier aimed his LMG at Rory and unleashed a barrage of bullets at her direction. Rory, with her superior reflexes rolled away unharmed. The bullets, with its incendiary properties instead struck the fuel depot causing it to explode.

"Rides here! Get in now!" Janis said as he came through with his Dragoon. The back door opened and Barussa and Ludvig got inside.

"Rainier! Come on!" Barussa said.

Rainier ran with all of his might to the Dragoon but unknown to him, Rory was charging at him with the spear point of her halberd. Rainier jumped inside the car until he landed all the way through just as the spear point entered into the passenger compartment of the armored car.

"Crap!" Rainier said as he stared at the spear point which was only a mere inch away from his face.

"Get off of my Dragoon little girl!" Janis said. He aimed his pistol at Rory's head and shot a round right between her eyes. Rory fell limp as Janis stepped on the gas as the 19th Mechanized got away safely from Alnus.

"Damn! That was close. Did you get the gem?" Rainier asked.

"Present and accounted for." Barussa pulled it out of his pocket for everyone to see.

 **(JSDF POV)**

"Rory!" Itami yelled as he ran to Rory who lay down on the ground as the armored car sped off. He wished he moved faster so he could get a good shot at the mysterious soldiers who suddenly turned Alnus upside down with their shootings.

"I am okay Itami. It's just a scratch. Besides, Emroy granted me regeneration remember?" Rory said.

"I know, but I wish I could have helped." Itami said.

"Look at you, your so cute when you worried you know."

"Itami! We just lost a third of our vehicles! How are we going to explain this to the General and the press?" Kuwahara asked.

"Right now we need to pull out this fire or we will get a firestorm in our hands." Kurata said.

The rest of Itami's squad grabbed several fire extinguishers and began to fight the fires that was eating up their vehicles. Meanwhile a journalists smiled in a sinister delight as he took photos of the fire.

"Looks like I got that big scoop that I am looking for." Kazunari said.

 **Thank you so far! I am pleased you reading this.**

 **If you have any questions I will answer them to you.**

 **Please favorite and subscribe.**

 **(And the next chapter will focus on the JSDF more)**

 ***Motostrelki: Motorized Soldier.**


	3. Aftermath

"As you can see right here behind me that the casualty counts are by the dozens and hundreds more injured. Falmart locals and JSDF eye witness accounts say the perpetrators were dressed in red and white camouflage as they fled the scene here." Said Nanami Kuribiyashi, Shino's younger sister who is a news reporter for NHK. She had insisted on being the NHK correspondent for the Special Region so she can also be close with her sister.

"Everyone please stay clear of the scene and let the military police do their job." Said one of the JSDF soldiers trying to control the crowd of News Reporters and curious Special Region natives.

Meanwhile beyond the police tape, Itami is being interviewed by a detective sent to help the investigation that General Hazama ordered immediately this morning.

"I saw three guys in red and black, both had guns and I nearly ran them over. My squad chased them bought there was a third guy who appeared out of nowhere and sprayed at everything. I saw some of my friends die but the that guy alone." Itami said.

"And you said that this guy wore some sort of welding mask?" Detective Kudo asked while writing down on a notepad.

"Had some twisted smile on his mask too. His gun just cut through our cars like if it wasn't anything and then they explode like those cars in the movies." Itami replied.

"Okay then, I will see the CCTV pictures and some photos now and- hey!" the detective rushed to a collapsing MP soldier who suddenly collapsed on the ground. Itami quickly came into his side and looked at his colleague. He noticed that the man's eyes were frozen still and he was sweating profusely despite the season in Falmart right now is Autumn.

"What's happening? Furukawa? Can you listen to me?" Itami said to his downed colleague.

"I was putting the bodies into the bags until… I started having trouble breathing. Then I…felt a pain on my stomach and I collapsed. Now my head feels like it was hung upside down for hours." Furukawa the MP said.

Itami and Kudo tried to keep the man calm but as they made him relax, he noticed that the MP's and several other people around them are slowly collapsing to the ground.

"Medic! Help!" Itami cried.

"Itami! I just noticed. We need to get them out of here." Mari Kurokawa, 3rd Recon's Combat Lifesaver came to Itami.

"Okay, help me up. We need to get these people to the hospital now." Itami ordered.

"Hai!" Kudo and Kurokawa said.

The three went hard at work carrying the crippled people out of the crime scene and into the ambulances that were gathering there to get the people out of there. The News Reporters were meanwhile filming the JSDF carrying their own and the Falmarts to the ambulances.

"Mari, you just save these people's lives thanks to you, the detective and the Hero of Ginza." Said a Red Cross worker.

"Thanks, Barret. Hey, what's that ticking?" Kurokawa said in English. She noticed a strange clicking noise that came from the ambulance.

"Oh that is my Geiger Counter. It came back from Fukushima after the whole Earthquake and Nuclear- wait a minute." Barret said as he grabbed the Geiger Counter.

He began to read the handheld device on his hands and the way that Kurokawa was seeing her colleague, she could see that his eyes were in utter terror as he read it.

"Mari! Are you feeling dizzy right now?" Barret asked.

"A little bit why?"

"Whatever killed these people and knocked down the rest. Its radioactive!"

"Eh? Really? If that is true, it's worse than I thought! Itami!" Mari turned around.

She noticed that her commanding officer was kneeling on the ground and clutching his stomach in one hand and rubbing the temples of his head with the other. He threw up and collapsed to the ground.

 **(Sometime later)**

Itami woke up from what it felt like a deep sleep. He opened his eyes and let the light breached them. He found himself starring at a dull colored ceiling and could hear a beeping noise from his right side. He was in a hospital bed.

"Itami, are you okay?" Tuka said. She was with Lelei and Yao sitting next to their friend.

"Yeah, I just collapsed. It must be nothing but fatigue. Man they were heavy." Itami said.

"No, Kurokawa said that you suffered something called 'Radi-ation Poisoning'." Lelei calmly said.

"Radiation Poisoning? I wasn't near any nukes." Itami said.

"You were actually, Mari said that they did this procedure called an 'Autopsy' where they got the bullets out of the people who were killed and she said that they were some sort of 'Depleted Rounds'. She told me you know what I am talking about since you know more about 'Nuclear Physics' than I do."

"Depleted Rounds? No wonder they chopped through our armor with ease." Itami said.

"What are Depleted Rounds?" Lelei asked.

"You know bullets right? The tiny projectiles that are fired from our guns? Well these bullets are better than our normal ones."

"How can they be better bullets? I have seen them cut through Knight Armor and people with ease." Lelei pressed further.

"Depleted Rounds can pierce through armor better than normal bullets. They are embedded with a radioactive substance, usually Uranium, an element that is very powerful, which give the bullets a better armor piercing capability. And to make it worst, they can even set somethings on fire and sometimes make them explode too." Itami explained.

The girls gulped at Itami's words. The technological capabilities of the Japanese knew no bounds as they all continued to learn something new of Itami's world every day. He had more time to hang around with his lady friends ever since they kicked out Zorzal from Sadera.

"Hey Itami, I'm glad your awake!" Kurokawa said who was now sporting an Orange Hazmat Suit and was carrying an Ipad.

"Kurokawa-sama, what's with that weird dress your wearing?" Tuka asked.

"I had to help Autopsy the dead people and due to the radiation, I had to wear this suit. I have to be back in a while, the police want to collect all of these strange bullets so that they can investigate. I was also told to give some pictures that some of the journalists took photos of the people who attacked us last night to General Hazama and Detective Kudo." Kurokawa replied.

"Can I see if that's okay with you?" Itami asked.

Kurokawa nodded and gave the Ipad to Itami. The girls looked at the Ipad in astonishment as Itami opened the picture album of the Apple Device and with a press of his finger, opened the pictures. He could see the photos were in top quality as if a sports photographer in a middle of a championship game would capture. He could see in crisp clear HD the people who burnt Alnus base. He grinned his teeth in anger and frustration as he saw that there was no way can he recognize them as they used unknown guns and wore a military uniform that didn't match anyone back at Earth.

"Just who are these guys?" Itami asked to himself, he was about to swipe to the next picture when Yao stopped him by grabbing his hand.

"Itami, can I take a closer look at that man's hand?" she asked.

The JSDF soldier pinched his index finger and thumb together to zoom in at one of the soldier's hands that Yao pointed at. Itami noticed that the man was wearing some sort of ring on his finger which looked like something of a Falmart design as he noticed that the jewel that was the center of the ring was a stone found adorning the fingers of some of the Special Region's elites.

"I think I know those people!" Yao said.

"WHAT!?" Itami and Mari exclaimed.

"If I the stories correctly, when my tribe was still living near the western mountains. I recall that beyond the mountains lay the Western Deserts where a federation of independent city states called 'Taifas' come from. One of those Taifas, Heopis, has these special cavalries called 'the Sand Vipers'. It is said that the leaders of the Sand Vipers wore a ring since they were part of the Prince's Body Guards. But I remember they were more of assassins than the former." Yao said.

(19th Mechanized POV)

Barussa was admiring the ring that Prince Kayden gave to him. It was of a Heopic design and was adorned with a matching light blue turquoise gem. It was given to him ever since he became the Prince's personal Secret Police. If there were any unruly people that the Prince's men can't approach without causing too much 'uneeded bloodshed', he sends the 19th Mechanized who he fondly calls 'the Sand Vipers' due to the fact that they can quickly navigate the sands of the desert with ease.

They were about to finish their journey and were about to enter the Taifa of Heopis border when they heard their radio chatter.

"Major? You're here already? We need your help! This is Checkpoint 4" said the radio

"I read you C-4. What's happening? Talk to me. Barussa is listening behind me." Janis grabbed the radio and replied.

"We found some Saderan, looks like some sort of caravan. Military in nature. About a couple thousand. We're going to intercept but it's just the thirty of us. Could use some guns." The radio broadcasted.

"Looks like the new government decided to get cocky. How about we give them a scare shall we?" Janis suggested.

"Okay, but let's try not to shoot at them this time. I am low on ammo, got like only a spare mag left." Barussa said.

"That was the Major, we are throwing our hat in the ring to C-4." Janis smiled.

Barussa turned back and woke up a sleeping Rainier who was lying down on Ludvig's lap with his mask covering Rain's face.

"Wake up boys, we got some more action today." Barussa said.

 **Please favorite and subscribe! Review and questions are welcome.**


	4. Combined Arms

**Thank you guys so much for the reviews and questions you gave to me. It means a lot.**

 **Just to put this clear, the Cygni's are Humanoid Aliens with several parts of their bodies that are superior to normal Earthlings. I will get into better detail soon. And maybe right a character that can explain it well… heheheheheheheheh**

The rolling thunder of the Dragoon 90 glided through the desert sand dunes like a hungry wolf in search of his prey. Everyone in the vehicle except the driver Janis were buckling up or more like holding on for dear life like a roller coaster without a seatbelt from Janis' reckless driving.

"Ouch! That's it! Consider that round for saving my ass earlier, Re-effin-voked!" Rainier angrily said.

"Switch your brain with your balls again? Shut up! I am driving here!" Janis said while he made a hard turn left on the wheel.

The Tank Destroyer finally caught up with Checkpoint 4 or C-4's men who were rushing as they are.

"Barussa! Recon says there's about a couple thousand Sads* with caravans of wagons. Looks like a supply chain of some sort." Said the radio.

"Supply chain? Looks like we might be stealing some food tonight! Been getting tired of crappy _Putra_. I am willing to kill for a bowl of Pumpkin Soup… delicious!" Ludvig said.

"I also got some data from our _Explorer_ that we have a sandstorm coming at us within fifteen minutes. We need to kill'em fast and secure the cargo within that frame sir." The radio added.

"Roger, Lieutenant, tell your men to use Combined Arms formations, when we get close enough we drop on foot and gun for the wagons. Alrighty?" Barussa said.

"Affirmative!" the radio said.

Barussa knew that the check point only had a tank platoon of four D-15 Armata's which were the latest models of the Cygni Federation's line of tanks. The rest were motorized AFV's equipped with high caliber machine guns and a Faktoriya Anti-Tank Guided Missile Launcher which is a SACLOS (Semi-Automatic Command to Line of Sight) tube that shoots out rockets that an operator can control the direction of where it's heading to by use of a wire-guidance system. He had to make sure that the heavy armor and fire power of the Armata's complement the speed and anti-infantry capabilities of his AFV's.

"Get your gun's ready! Rainier, get up to the turret and place your MG on the mount and shoot!" Barussa said.

Rainier locked and reloaded his trusty Cabihan LMG Custom and climbed the ladder up to the lid cover of the turret. The sun breached his eyes causing a slight burn on his eye sockets since he came out of a mostly dark room. He promptly mounted his LMG at the mount and took aim at what was in front of him at the horizon. He turned on his radio so he can communicate with Barussa and the CO's of C-4.

 **Some Mad Max Flamthrower Guitar Guy music is recommended for this scene.**

"Twelve'O! Big group! They got horsies!" Rainier pointed.

"Roger! Armata's Fire at will but don't destroy the wagons or your asses are mine!" Barussa ordered.

As he spoke, Barussa's Tank Destroyer and the Armata Tanks fired their turrets to begin the engagement.

(Saderan POV)

A Legate loyal to Prince Zorzal was busy marching his troops across the Western Deserts. He had been travelling over a day now ever since his master ordered him to transport some 'Saleable Cargo' to a smuggler's den that Zorzal had took the liberties of informing about a deal that would get him some much needed money. He told him that he needed money to buy the mercenary armies he needs to take back his kingdom which was stolen from him by his sister Pina and the JSDF.

"General, do you hear something?" one of his men said.

"No, what do you mean?" the Legate said.

"Like something like the noise similar to the JSDF's Iron Beast."

"Probably just the desert playing tricks wit- Take cover!" the Legate ordered when five large explosions erupted in front of him.

He then turned around to see that a group of Iron Beast's similar to the JSDF's but were painted in the same colors of the desert sand's rolled towards him from his western flank.

"The JSDF are here too? I don't believe this!" one of his men said.

"Cavalry! Engage and attack!" He ordered desperately.

(19th Mechanized POV)

"Damnation! Fast movers flanking us!" Rainier said.

"Lieutenant! Tell your men to take out those flankers on your right. We take left." Barussa ordered in the radio.

"At speed!" the C-4 Lieutenant said.

The Dragoon 90 hard turned left and sped pass the enemy cavalry. It positioned itself in front of the pursuing cavalry. The turret turned 180 degrees behind it and took aim.

"It's play time!" Rainier sadistically as he pulled the LMG's trigger. His bullet swarm was in synch with the recoil of the repeatedly firing Tank Destroyer Turret as it made child's play at the Saderan Cavalry.

"Bloody Hell, their throwing stuff at me!" Rainier said while keeping his head low. He noticed that some of the Saderans were either throwing spears or arrows while on horseback which disrupted his aiming and reloading. He felt stressed and pressured as he struggled to properly place the belt of ammo on to the firing mechanism.

"Aggh! Which one of you Xenos did that!" Rainier yelled. His right breast took an arrow but his leather jacket softened the shot and saved him. He pulled out the arrow with his hand before finally he finished reloading his LMG.

"You okay?" Ludvig asked.

"Tis' but a scratch Lud. Why? Do you want to be up here?" Rainier replied.

"No! You're doing just fine Rain." Ludvig replied.

"Lazy bastard" Rainier whispered.

"I heard that!" Ludvig yelled.

The Tank Destroyer continued to fire at the Saderan cavalry and about a few minutes later. All of the horses were now dead on the floor.

"Cavalry is out of the game. Let's finish this. The Sandstorm is nearing us and I want those supplies secured." Barussa ordered.

"Roger! Alright, everyone out! We bring the fight to them lads!" the C-4 Lieutenant ordered.

The AFV's soon opened their doors and out came the Motostrelki from their shells. They began to rush towards the enemy infantry firing wildly and suppressive at them. The Saderas scrambled into their battle formations and formed a Testudo.

" _Sie Idioti_ , they are just asking us to kill them. _Nosaut vinus_!" Barussa said.

The men of Checkpoint Four closed into the enemy and took cover a sand dune so they can reload. This made Barussa disappointed since he wanted his men to keep moving due to the rushed nature of the task at hand.

"Soup's on boys. Get out and help those sods out." Barussa said.

Ludvig and the ever quiet Andris got out from the doors of the Tank Destroyer while Rainier climbed out of the turret.

"Oi! _Uz Priesku_!" Ludvig yelled at the C-4 men encouraging them to keep moving. The soldiers hiding by the sand dune stood up and continued their direct assault at the enemy.

"Don't let that Ogre near us! Andris! Make it go timber!" Rainier shouted.

 _Andris, other than being a handy man, was also a qualified ATGM (Anti-Tank Guided Missle) Launcher. He uses the Faktoriya ATGM to attack large enemy units from the usual giant Death Worms that made its grain ocean home in the western desert to Giant Ogres._

Andris placed his rocket launcher on the ground and looked through the scope. A few seconds later he fired a rocket at the Ogre. The Ogre didn't stand a chance of surviving as the rocket directly hit him in the head which cause it to crash down into a group of unfortunate Saderan Legionnaires who were near him crushing them to death.

"He is down! Armatas! Finish them off! Those supplies are ours!" Rainier said. He could see one of the wagons near him and eagerly ran towards it.

"Hey! Get back to position! Your moving too far forward." Barussa reprimanded. But Rainier often only takes Barussa's words as suggestions than orders. But today, he wished he had taken heed of his boss's words.

"Take this!" said a Saderan Legionnaire who hid behind the wagon and impaled Rainier with a sword while he was about to touch the wagon knocking both him and Rainier to the ground.

The Legionnaire then pulled out the sword from Rain's stomach and was about to stab him again but Rain grabbed the man's arms. They struggled for a few seconds with the blade nearing Rain's heart. Thinking quickly, Rainier placed his hand on the blade of the sword and bended it sideways. The metal fatigue he created caused the sword to break in half with the broken shard flying off a few inches barely out of reach. The Saderan, who was still on top of him threw away his sword and proceeded to strangle Rainier to death. Rainier struggled yet again with the Legionnaire. His left hand was trying to crush the windpipes of the Saderan while his right hand tried to reach for the broken blade just inches out of his reach.

Just as he was about to black out, he could feel as if the broken blade magically flew to his hand as if a direct hand of God pushed it towards him. Without thinking a second longer, he lunged the blade directly at the neck of the Saderan Legionnaire. He coughed blood in front of his face and fell dead on the ground as his grip on Rain's neck loosened giving him the air to breathe again.

Clutching his stomach wound and inhaling for air he stood up to see that he saw what looked like a young girl around his age with long black hair and golden brown eyes. She was staring at him with a nervous look as she looked like as if she had seen a monster before her. Rainier noticed that the girl was wearing clothes similar to slaves. Most probably the

"Out of the way _meitene_." Rainier moved the girl aside.

He approached the wagon and opened the door and to his surprise, instead of seeing barrels of food and other useful items, he saw a group of chained slaves. All of whom looked at him with surprise at their savior.

"Well… there goes my pumpkin soup…. oh _Idrazt_!" Rainier said as he clenched his bleeding abdomen. His knees became limp as he fell down to the bottom of the wagon and leaned on the wheel. He quickly grabbed from one of his pockets a syringe of adrenaline and shot it through his neck while holding the wound hard. Yet his weakened hands couldn't stop the pressure.

"Are you okay sir?" a woman from the wagon got out and knelt down on him.

"Blood all over my guts. I feel like my eyes balls are closing in on me." Rainier spoke.

He observed the woman. She had light brown medium length hair and had pale skin. Her eyes were dark brown and showed that she has the concern of a doctor in her.

"Let me see your wound." The woman said.

Rain revealed his wound which made the woman gag a bit. She fought back her hesitancy and placed both of her hands hard on his wound. Rain grinned his teeth as struggled to stay alive. The woman took a quick observation at Rainier. She looked at his red and black Flecktarn clothing and tattoos.

"You're not JSDF aren't you?"

"Rainier! Hey you! Get off of him!" Ludvig yelled pointing his gun at the woman.

"Lud! _Atnesist man jasanas medic_!" Rainier cried for medic.

"Damnit! Help please! He is losing blood fast." The woman yelled.

Ludvig turned around and shouted for help from his fellow soldiers and one of them who had a medic's patch on his badge ran to him with a medic kit.

As the medic began to treat his wounds properly with disinfectant and bandages, Rainier could see that the other wagons were being searched by the soldiers. Some of them found the barrels of food that they were looking for while others found more female captives from the wagons.

The woman and young girl who saved him were rounded up along with others by his fellow soldiers and were safely placed inside an AFV. He soon noticed that the sand and wind began to shift rapidly, signaling that the sandstorm was now just several hundred meter away from their position.

"Let's get you out of here." The medic said. He wrapped Rain's arm around his neck and lifted him up. They limped their way to Janis' Dragoon 90 and they arrived inside just as the sandstorm was about to hit them.

"Where to?" Janis asked Barussa.

"To _Akmens._ I need to think what to do with these people." Barussa bended forward and scratched his head in confusion over the sudden change of events. He was expecting to obtain just consumable cargo but now he got some human cargo which he just couldn't leave behind to be swallowed by the sandstorm.

The Tank Destroyer's engine started and the vehicle and the C-4 people made their way out of the desert back to their HQ.

(Some time later)

Rainier lay comfortably at the bed that the infirmary of their HQ had. He watched video tapes of old comedy shows back home as he rested from his wounds.

The forty-three women that the 19th Mechanized suddenly had were kept at the base and under guard by Barussa until he can figure out a way to do with them. He wasn't the kind of criminal who sells humans as he had a code of conduct that his products are going to be simply just drugs, gold, jewelry and weapons and no more. So far he found out that some of the women could do some useful tasks around the base so he put them all to work to make the time pass.

He noticed that one of those women walked inside the infirmary with some medicines. It was the same woman who saved his life by pressing her hand on his bleeding abdomen.

"Hey, I know you." Rainier said.

"Hai, I know you too. You're that guy I saved." The woman saved.

"Did Barussa sent you here?"

"Yes, I told him I am doctor."

"Doctor? Why the hell are you in a slave train? You look like you should be in one of those piece of crap they call a hospital that these Falmarts have."

The woman stayed silent for a moment which signaled she doesn't want to talk about.

"Well okay then with the silence. Tell me, what kind of doctor?" Rainier asked.

"I am a Children's Doctor. I wasn't used to treating these severe wounds. But you are looking like you will recover soon." The woman smiled as she administered medicine to Rainier via syrup that she placed on a spoon and fed to Rainier. The syrup was a vitamin supplement that contains vitamins and minerals that helps wounds recover.

"Hey you never told me your name." Rainier asked shyly.

"Miwako Shinozaki- Desu." She said her name.

"Rainier, call me Rainier or Rain. Whatever you wish."

(JSDF POV)

Itami looked at the western deserts with his binoculars. He and a platoon of JSDF soldiers were sent to investigate Yao's lead on the attackers who destroyed a significant part of Alnus.

He brought his entire 3rd Recon Team and included the former chef slash spy of Zorzal, Hitoshi Furuta. Itami had never heard much from him during the Zorzal Coup and he welcomed him back with open arms.

"I don't like this heat. I am more of a forest person." Kuribiyashi said while hiding under the shadow of the HMV.

"Well do you want to get back on those guys who attacked Alnus or not?" Itami said.

"Yes! But I will just stay here in the shade." She replied.

The Platoon consisted of fifty soldiers divided into sox APC's and one Type 10 Hitomaru tank which was just fresh from the factory and ready for field testing. Itami also brought a fully recovered Rory, Yao, Lelei and Tuka with him.

"So where can we find your cousin?" Itami asked Yao.

"He lives as a trader in a village not too far away west. The Village should be about a day's walk from here but I think we can arrive their before sun down." Yao said.

"Okay, let's move out!" Itami ordered.

 **If you have any more questions or suggestions please ask away.**

 **Plus bonus points if you can guess who I named Miwako Shinozaki from which real life Japanese women. (Hint: I might give you a boner heheheheheheheheheheh)**

 ***Sads: Derogatory term for Saderans used by the 19** **th** **Mechanized. (AN: Expect a lot of that to happen m8)**


	5. Death Masque

**Thank you for all of your heartfelt support this far!  
And if you're that Spanish guy, pls write your reviews in pure English pls.**

 **And if you got any ideas of what I can add to my story please ask away in the reviews or PM me.**

 **TY!**

The sun burnt the metal interiors that were the JSDF's Task Force's HMV's. The interior of the horseless carriages was more than unpleasant as the JSDF soldiers weren't use to fighting in the desert some of them including Itami's 'Harem' friends were tugging their clothes to fan air into their skins unless they would die of heatstroke.

"It's so hot!" Kuribiyashi said while keeping a cold towel on top of her forehead which was generously distributed to everyone by Kurokawa and the other Combat Lifesavers in the Taskforce.

"How much longer until we reach this Village Itami, I mean Lieutenant?" Furuta asked while holding a roughly drawn map provided Yao's fellow Dark Elves of the Western Deserts. It had been a long time since he spoke any title of respect to anyone since his undercover job as a chef of Zorzal. He is also the only person in the Taskforce that know's how Zorzal thinks and acts due to how close he got to him before his ouster from Sadera.

"The village he lives in should not be far. I just need to tell you that you may want to leave your carriages away because he is easily spooked…despite his…outgoing job…" Yao said.

"What does he do? And who is this relative of yours?" Itami asked while he drove the leading HMV of the convoy.

"His name is Ravyrth. He is a servant in an Inn that many travelers who go here stay at. Very popular and a good chunk of the trade caravans here go to the village that the inn where he works at." Yao said.

"Okay, Tuka, Yao, Kuribiyashi, Furuta, Nishina and Kuruta, you are going with me. Everyone else keep your distance for now." Itami ordered.

 _ **(About a few hours later)**_

"Yao! Cousin! I miss you!" Said Ravyrth who happily smiled when his cousin and 3rd Recon walked into the Inn.

"It's been a long time. I came here to ask you somethings, some very important things." Yao whispered quietly.

"Important? Is it about the tribe? I heard you fled from a dragon and hid in caves. I'm glad you and others are safe." Ravyrth said.

" _Not completely…"_ Itami spoke to himself in the head. He still remembers that final confrontation against the Flame Dragon where several of Yao's Dark Elf friends and family died.

"Well almost about us, but it's about 'the Sand Vipers'." Yao said.

"Shh… I can't talk about them here in the open. If you really want to know 'them', follow me." Ravyrth said.

Yao and Itami alone followed Ravyrth into his room at the 'Staff-Only' part of the Inn. His room was modest at best but it was able to fit the three of them inside.

"So tell me about these 'Sand Vipers'?" Itami asked as he sat down in a low standing stool in the room.

"Why first? Most people I know who asked about them end up dead." Ravyrth said.

"Dead? What do you mean?" Itami asked further.

Ravyrth sighed and gulped before he spoke showing a hesitancy noticed by the Lieutenant.

"The Sand Viper's is the Taifa of Heopis' Secret Police. Like the Oprichnina back in Sadera but they don't keep the 'Secret' part of the Secret Police title well. You can easily spot them with their red and black clothes. And did I mention they are mages too? They shoot at fire from their staffs and ride iron horses that cannot be killed and are faster than any other horses." Ravyrth said.

"That fit the people I saw back in Alnus." Itami said.

"What? What do you mean? Why are you looking for them?" Ravyrth asked.

"They attacked us and me and my friends are going to make them pay for it." Itami said.

"No, you will only die a horrible death to… 'Death Masque'…" Ravyrth gulped emphasizing the title 'Death Masque'.

"Who is he?" Yao and Itami asked.

"I am already risking a lot right now speaking of the Sand Viper but 'Death Masque'? No."

"Will this make you speak about him?" Itami showed a pouch of coins in order to bribe Ravyrth for more information. He doesn't normally do this but his superiors demanded he get information on anything of these 'Sand Vipers' by any means necessary, even if it means being a bit unethical.

"Okay… sit down. I will tell you about the Sand Viper's most terrifying member…"

The Dark Elf servant began to narrate:

 _A man who is more of the Demon Hunter of Sinners incarnated. The Sand Viper, called Death Masque by those who heard the tales or rarely, have actually seen him. He is a man no one wants to encounter in their life ever if the one who is behind the rectangular iron mask with the twisted teeth smiling at you as he or… it watches you die._

 _I have heard of the dark deeds that it has done. One time he cornered a man in a temple of the Healing Goddess which was supposed to be a sanctuary for everyone who seek refuge inside. No all was left was rubble and burnt corpses._

 _Another time, he chased a wealthy noble who was having a party in a ship by a river. He capsized the whole boat and tossed everyone overboard. They didn't last long when the crocodiles descended at them._

 _And to tell you a little History, Heopis and Sadera aren't the best of neighbors because Sadera tried to invade but they failed when the other Taifas came to Heopis' aid. Reason why is that you won't believe what terrible things that the Sand Vipers, especially what Death Masque does to any Saderans caught trespassing the Taifa…._

 _ **(19**_ _ **th**_ _ **Mechanized POV)**_

"NO PLEASE DON'T!" pleaded a captured Legionnaire as he screamed.

He was being dragged by the neck collar closer to a feral feline beast by Rainier nearly recovered Rainier. Several Saderan soldiers were captured by the 19th Mechanized and Prince Kayden was informed of the incident (except for the human cargo part). Kayden ordered to find the leaders of this Saderan Legion and to deal with him and if it all comes down to it, resume hostilities with Sadera.

"You want me to keep going? You got a few more inches before Freya tears your face off! Tell me who are you working for? Leaders? Anyone? Names!" Rainier said.

Freya, a saber tooth lioness that the 19th adopted as their pet. They use her as a smelling hound for them when they hunt for bounties of criminals that Prince Kayden would often post on the notice boards. She also is used as a torture instrument for Rainier to extract information on captured people that the 19th would occasionally lock up in their brigs.

"Yes please have mercy on me!" the legionnaire said.

Rainier grabbed a voice recorder and placed it near the man's mouth and told him to speak them. He began to speak of names, some were uninterpretable to him due to the language barrier that they had.

"and our supreme commander is Prince Zorzal…" the prisoner said.

"Zorzal eh? Tell him a message for me that he ain't welcome here in Heopis ever!" Rainier said.

"So are you letting me go?" he asked.

Rainier released the man off of his bonds and dragged him out to the front door of _Akmens._ The prisoner was already tasting freedom from his sights when…

*CRACK!*

"But I can't let you go without a souvenir my boy! Now scram and never come back!" Rainier said.

The now limp soldier dragged himself off to the scorching desert away from the secret Cygni Military Base. Rainier walked back inside of the base and back to where Freya was kept. She was kept inside a cell inside the brig of the base which ironically has the most luxurious accommodations, a cotton bed for her to sit on, some toys to play with and even a small nursery that Freya keeps some of her own cubs in. She had to be kept in the brig due to safety and health reasons and when I mean health reasons I mean some of the soldiers were actually allergic to her fur.

"Hey Freya! Good job making that piss poor old sod scream! Have a nice lamb on the house!" Rainier smiled as he tossed a set of lamb ribs to Freya who she and her seven cubs shared to eat.

When she was done eating the lamb ribs, Freya walked the Rainier who promptly began to scratch her in the head while she purred.

"Good Freya, we should place you on our battalion badge!" Rainier smiled.

While he was busy tickling the 19th Mechanize d's pet cat, a young girl, one of the slaves that Rainier and C-4 freed from the raid on the Saderan supply convoy walked behind her.

"Eh? Neko?" she asked in Japanese.

"Neko?" Rainier asked.

"It means cat. Can I pet him?" The girl said.

"It's a her, names Freya." Rainier answered.

The girl walked up to the cat and carefully placed her hand on Freya's head. She looked nervous as Rain noticed she had the posture of exploring down a line she had never crossed before. When her hand made contact with Freya's hand and began to rub back and forth. The lioness purred which made the girl smile.

"She likes me! And her kittens, their so Kawaii." She smiled.

"Indeed, tell me what's your name?" Rainier asked keeping a sincere smile on the girl.

"Kanna Miyawaki, Oniichan." She said.

"Well, names Rainier but you can call me Rain…. Hold on…" Rainier said but he began to notice that his communicator was ringing.

"Lud! How's recon duty?"

"Boring as hell, you're lucky you get torture duty after you had recovered. Did the prisoner say anything useful?" Lud asked.

"Take a hear of this…" Rainier brought out the voice recorder and played it near his radio communicator. The voice of the prisoner from earlier began to play that Ludvig listened intently.

"Okay, I think I will make a quick trip to a nearby town and ask for any leads on them." Ludvig said.

"Good, tell Andris and Jan I said 'Hallo!'." Rainier said before dropping the call.

 _ **(3**_ _ **rd**_ _ **Recon POV)**_

The rest of Itami's squad were eating a quick snack of tomato soup and bread while Itami and Yao talked with Ravyyr.

Furuta observed his surroundings keenly. Most of the Inn's patrons were mostly merchants with their caravan guards escorting them. He then began to notice that a group of people carrying swords and wearing armor of a Saderan Legionnaire design. He then spotted that instead of the usual red cloaks, they sported blue.

"Those men are Zorzal's." Furuta said.

"What?" Kuribiyashi asked.

"They sport blue cloaks to distinguish themselves from the loyalists. If they are here, Zorzal must not be far away either." He whispered.

The entire squad looked at the Saderan's suspiciously while the Legionnaires took their seats on an empty table that the Inn's Tavern had in reserve.

They sat their quietly and the only type of talking they spoke was just orders for food and drink. They looked like they were only going to be here for dinner and not chat with anyone but themselves by the rushed look on their eyes as observed by Furuta.

The next interesting characters that entered the Inn was a trio of men whose faces were painted in black camouflage. One of them walked up to the barkeeper and placed some coins at the counter and whispered to him. Furuta couldn't decipher what he said despite his espionage experience. But he observed that barkeeper pointed at the Saderans who came in earlier.

The black faced individual turned back to his friends and nodded his head at the Saderan's direction and walked to the Saderans who looked at the black faced men with suspicion.

Then to the 3rd Recon's shock and horror, the black face people pulled out what looked like guns and aimed at the surprised Saderans.

"Prince Kayden says: 'Get off of my Lawn!" one of them said before firing their weapons.

 **Bonus points if you can guess who I named Kanna Miyawaki after, I give you guys a hint: Eidoru**

 **If you have anything to ask or suggestions or whatever, pls tell me in the Reviews or PM me. TY**


	6. Shootout!

**I honestly didn't expect to have it funny in the last chapter. Thanks for the 'lols'. Plus, thank you to those who responded in r/gate Reddit (Username: Hackata48).**

"Prince Kayden says: 'Get off of my Lawn!" Ludvig said before pulling out his Kabihan SMG and firing at the Saderans sitting on the table. Janis and Andris who accompanied him pulled out their respective firearms of an assault rifle and a pump action shotgun respectively.

The Saderans were caught off guard as the bullets shredded through their armor like tissue paper and water.

"Piss off!" Janis smiled as he spat at the corpses.

"Everyone open fire!" said a voice from behind them which caught the trio by surprise.

The Penal Soldiers turned around and noticed several men in green, similarly dressed and armed like those JSDF people back in Alnus. The green men kicked open the tables and took cover behind them. Then one of the peeked over and began to fire back.

 _ **(Play this song for maximum immersion: Black Strobe- I'm a Man)**_

"Blyat! We got ourselves a firefight boys!" Ludvig said as he fought his way through the screaming people running away and ducked behind the bar counter with Andris.

"Rrrraaagghh!" Andris roared as he unloaded shells of buck shots at the unexpected attackers. They were pinned down to the tables and began to blind fire their rifles over their covers.

When some of the bullets began to fly in his direction, Andris ducked down and slowly reloaded his shotgun while glasses of broken bottles and ale flowed out of their barrels from bullet punctures.

"Damnit! Miro! I need some muscle now! We are getting stretched over here!" Ludvig said on his radio.

"Ja serzant, laiks gatavot!" said a large man in a hazmat suit carrying a flamethrower who kicked open the door and aimed at the JSDF soldiers.

 _Corporal Miroslav was one of the newest additions to the 19_ _th_ _Mechanized. Ironically however, he is the oldest member in the battalion. Before being inducted into the 'Iesloditaz Karavir', he was a surgeon back in an upscale city in Agir. He has a background of being a surgeon which made him one of the doctors back in Akmens. The reason he became indicted was still however subject to rumors and speculation. Officially he became a criminal due to medical malpractice but the rumors went that he intentionally killed his patient due to an argument over medical bills. He is often seen in the hospital section when not outside fighting. He had undergone Assault Engineer training and was authorized to use flamethrowers. He was originally part of the 21_ _st_ _Airborne Battalion before transferring to the 19_ _th_ _Mechanized Battalion._

 **(JSDF POV)**

"Behind us!" Nishina yelled as he looked straight into the glowing orange eyes of the person in a hazmat suit who positioned his hands with his large gun with a big nozzle at the end towards them.

Every one of the JSDF squad instinctively ran out of cover and dashed for the door the other door as the man's gun released a stream of flames from his gun. They each covered each other as hail of bullets flew around them. Fortunately, no one got hit when they ran. When they were in the 'Staff-Only' part of the Inn.

"I heard gunfire and screaming. What is going on?" Itami asked to his squad.

"Some men came in with guns and just shoot up the place Lieutenant. And they are chasing us. Four guys, one of them got a flamethrower and its now burning the whole place down!" Kuribiyashi said.

"Eh? Flamethrower real-"Itami was about to say when he heard a voice.

"Vini gaja tur! Vini strada par Sadera!" said the voice of one of their attackers. One of the armed assailants peeked over the door way and began to fire at the JSDF who quickly went behind cover.

"We need to get out of here! Retreat and covering fire!" Itami ordered.

"Hai!" His squad said.

Kuribiyashi and Kurata opened fire and the attacker while one at a time, Itami, Yao, Ravyrth and the others walked out of the back door.

 **(19** **th** **Mechanized POV)**

"Bloody Hell they are shooty." Ludvig commented.

"They are going for the back door, me and Andris will see if we can cut them off. And Miro! I thought we agreed no flamethrower!" Janis said.

"You said 'Burn them'. Not 'Shoot them'." Miroslav argued.

"Now ain't the time for technicalities. Kayden is not gonna mind a burnt in or two as long as the Sad bastards get out of his front yard. I bet these guys work for that Zorzal fella." Lud said while blind firing over the corner.

He then noticed that the suppressing fire stopped and carefully peeked over the corner to notice that his shooters were gone and an open door was left to be shown of their last prescence.

"They legged it! Jan, Andy, cut them off!" Ludvig said.

The two he shouted on moved out via the front door of the inn while Ludvig and Miroslav rushed through the back door. Opening fire at the JSDF, the 19th Mechanized gave chase. Running through the sandy ground under the cover of the town buildings. Ludvig noticed that Janis and Andris moved next to them until moving to intercept. He then saw them disappear into the buildings when they took the alternative route to cut the JSDF off.

 **(JSDF POV)**

"This is Itami! We are under heavy fire! We have the VIP! We need to get out now!" Itami yelled on his radio.

"Roger!" Said Kuwahara said from the radio.

He looked to his squad and his friend Yao and her cousin and they all were panting for breath.

"So it all has come to this huh? One day we are fighting Roman like legionnaire without breaking a sweat. Next we got soldiers with guns and a freaking flamethrowers! Flamethrowers! I thought the UN banned those?" Nishina said.

"I didn't even know it will come to this. Kuribiyashi, are there any signs of them?" Itami asked.

"I don't see them right now." Shino said.

"I saw them kill those Saderans. This Prince Kayden guy must really hate them to the point that his foreign policy is 'Shoot on Sight'." Kurata commented.

"They indeed do. I am glad that you didn't meet Death Masque. He is the worst of them all." Ravyrth said.

"Death Masque?" Kurata asked.

"Basically a psychopath Shino. From what he told me and Yao, he is just bad news." Itami said.

"Lieutenant! We have arrived! I see you now." Kuwahara said.

Itami's squad looke at the road nearby and saw that all of their vehicles including the tank have come.

 **(19** **th** **Mechanized POV)**

"There you are!" Janis said as he opened fire at the JSDF.

He spotted them hiding at the stables by the edge of the town. He also notices that there was a couple of Dark Elves with them. They must be translators or guides since he knew from recon and expedition reports is that there is a sizable population of them leaving in the Western Deserts.

Just as he was about to move closer, he and Andris came under suppressing fire from high caliber rounds from behind him. They took cover by a wagon and called in for help.

"They got some firepower! We need to retreat now! Get back to the jeep now." Janis said.

"Bloody hell! Damnit! Really? What kind of firepower?" Ludvig asked.

Janis peeked over the wagon and saw that he counted about six jeeps and one really big and intimidating tank following them.

"Jeeps, about six of them All got MG's of the nasty kind. But the big boy of the group is a tank. Looks pretty heavy. Andy and I are getting out now." Janis said.

"Ay, meet you there." Ludvig said.

 **(JSDF POV)  
**

"What happened? You said you encountered 'gunfire'?" Kuwahara asked.

"It's the same guys from Alnus. Men in red and black with guns. Believe it or not one of them got a flamethrower." Itami said.

"A flame thrower really?" Kuwahara asked shocked. Despite his extended experience in the JSDF, he has never experienced dealing with flamethrowers before. He had always thought that the UN banned the usage of them during the 70's.

"Well they don't play by the rules. But we got the VIP. This is Yao's cousin Ravyrth." Itami introduced to Kuwahara.

Just as when things began to look calm for now. One of the soldiers who manned the machine gun turrets of the SDF's HMV's shouted.

"Hey! I see lights! They look like it is… a car?" the soldier said.

Itami's eyes popped open in surprise as he went outside and got out his binoculars. He spotted with them two white globes slowly moving farther away from them.

"That must be those people who shot at us! We need to get them no or we will lose or only lead to these Sand Vipers!" Itami ordered.

His entire task force scrambled to their vehicles and accelerated their vehicles in pursuit.

 **(19** **th** **Mechanized POV)**

"They are after us! They are chasing us!" Ludvig yelled out while shooting a burst at the jeep that was closing in behind their tail.

"Barussa! Major! We got enemy armor and infantry chasing us to _Akmens."_ Miroslav said in the radio.

"This is Barussa, if what I hear is true, these 'Men in Green' are working for Zorzal. I need information and these people look like they got a lot. I scrambled some AFV's and a couple of Armatas at your direction just hold on!" Barussa replied on the radio.

Janis struggled to disrupt the aiming of the enemy machine guns by swerving left and right but he worries about the enemy tank behind him. Who was shooting HE rounds at them which he really doesn't want to be in the receiving end of.

"Andris, grab a rocket. Disable that tank!" Janis said.

Andris grabbed a rocket launcher from the back of the jeep and aimed at the enemy tank. The rocket was designed to pierce through armor at shorter ranges unlike the ATGM's he is used to firing with. When he shot a rocket towards the turret of the enemy tank. He saw that the rocket suddenly exploded a meter short of the hull of the tank.

"Trophy! Some sort of shield! Rocket Shield! Rocket goes poof but no explosion." Andris described.

"An Active Defense System Andy. I dealt with these. Lud! Grab another rocket from the back. I got an idea." Janis said.

Ludvig stretched over to the back and quickly grabbed a rocket from the back of the jeep. Andris meanwhile reloaded his rocket launcher.

"Okay, there is a moment where an ADS will need to reload itself. We will make feint a shot causing the tank to be exposed to fire. Lud, you will shoot the feint shot. Make sure the ADS shoots it. Then Andris, since you got the better aim, you will shoot the turret and hopefully disable that damn gun!" Janis said.

Ludvig primed himself and aimed his rocket at the tank and fired. Just as planned, the tank's ADS stopped the rocket from making impact. With a moment to spare, Andris fired his rocket at the tank's turret and it made impact near the turret's barrel. He knows that the turret can no longer fire at them as he noticed there was a dent on the barrel that would make the barrel dangerous to fire a tank round on.

"Hooyah! Eat that!" Ludvig raised his fist and cheered.

"Janis! I got some spikes set up a 100 meters away from you. Get your pursuers into them." Barussa said in the radio.

Janis looked at his twelve o' clock direction and saw that other men of the 19th had set up the trap. He saw the AFV's, the soldiers and the Armata's that Barussa sent. He punched the gas in the jeep and had his jeep go over the spikes causing his tires to burst alongside the other HMV's that pursued him.

 **(JSDF POV)**

Itami's ears exploded when he heard that the tires of his HMV burst. His ears rang a sharp stinging noise. He could barely sense his entire environment and everything seemed to slow down.

Just as his hearing was about to come back. He noticed that his squad's driver, Kurata, was being dragged out of the driver's by a pair of tattooed hands. Itami felt a pulling force from his seat as he was dragged outside of his HMV. He noticed that his entire task force was being dragged out of their vehicles. Even the men on the tank got out from the hard shell of the vehicle and raised their hands up.

He looked around and saw his men being forced to kneel down with their hands up as their weapons were taken away. When he saw Rory, she was had her giant axe taken away by the soldiers who by the sheer weight of the weapon, about a team of four men had to carry it away as it was hauled over a truck.

"G-eeeettt-D-ow-!" said the man who dragged him out of his seat. Itami's hearing was still deafened but he could still hear what he said.

Just as Itami was about to see more of this horror being brought upon him. He felt a blunt force strike him from the back and his world went black as he fell into unconsciousness.

 _Some unspecified time later_

"Itami! Lieutenant! Wake up!" Shino shouted.

Itami opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings. All of his men had their hands hanged up by a hook and were all elevated from the ground. The room was dark and there was only one light source which is a light bulb just above him. He noticed that his Special Region friends Lelei, Tuka, Yao and Ravyrth. Strangely however, Rory is nowhere to be seen.

"What happened? I got knocked out." Itami asked Kuribiyashi.

"We got… captured. We are prisoners now." Shino gulped. She feared the worst of what they might do to them will be inflicted to her and her friend Kurokawa the medic, Yao, Lelei and Tuka since they were all females.

"Hardy! Goddess of the Underworld! Have mercy on us!" Ravyrth despaired.

"What are we going to do? We might get-"Kurata asked but the loud creaking noise from a thick iron door caused him to be silent as he saw a figure of a person revealing himself from the door.

To Itami's horror, the man who entered the room had tattoos on his bare arms and sported a welder's mask with painted teeth.

"It's him! That's Death Masque!" Ravyrth screamed.

 **HA! I bet you didn't see that coming! I am very unconventional writer you know. If you have any reviews or you spotted any errors, please tell me.**

 **BTW I could use your help: I am planning to make a frenemies relationship between Itami and Rainier and I could use some of your suggestions.**

 **Please like, subscribe and review. Everything will be appreciated!**


	7. An Unexpected Twist

**Sorry if it had been awhile, last week was my finals week and I took another week off to recover from it. I just came back from Cosplaymania and I didn't had time to focus on my story.**

 **Anyway on to the next chapter my friends!**

Rainier stood still in front of the prisoners menacingly causing them to turn white about the gills when they look at him. He felt pleasure from their fear of him.

" _Laba Diena!_ It looks like I am getting some overtime with this many." Rainier greeted as he walked into the room. He pulled out a knife and a grind stone from his pocket and began to sharpen the blade.

"I tell you what, I have a date tonight and I don't want over stress myself so I will ask you to do the torturing for me." Rainier said as he approached Kuwahara and drew the blade near his throat.

"Which part of your body should I cut first?" Rainier said with a psychotically ecstatic tone.

"Let him go!" Itami shouted.

Rainier sheathed his knife and grabbed Kuwahara's throat and lightly pressed his hands on his neck.

"Say it again…" Rainier asked.

"Let him go!" Itami yelled again.

Rainier lifted his welding mask up to reveal his face. He let go of Kuwahara so he could cup his hands on his ear so he can hear Itami better.

"What did you just say?" Rainier asked while leaning a few inches away from Itami.

"Let him go… and take me instead. Me for all or… at least some of my men." Itami bravely said.

Rainier laughed and took of the rest of his welding mask.

"For about two years I have yet to find someone with the balls to say that. Reminds me of my _Kartelis Dienas,_ Cartel Days you ignorant pumpkin." Rainier pointed at Itami with a smile.

The Lieutenant and the JSDF took a good look at their captor the infamous 'Death Masque' his face showed little subtlety to his title due to having many ornate looking tattoos covering his face. They consisted of animal fangs popping out from his mouth, symbols of what look like some sort of strange alien language's alphabet on his fore head and tribal like marking on his cheeks.

"Your Death Masque? You're more frightening then what the stories say." Itami said.

"Oh? A fan of my work? Tell me what did you hear about me?" Rainier asked.

"You killed many people and it in such brutal ways. Not Light Yagami can think of such deeds!"

"Wait… Light… Yagami…Yagami… uhm is it that guy from Kill La Kill? No is it uhm…. Rurouni Kenshin…." Rainier scratched his chin to think.

"Uhm what?" Itami asked dumbfounded to see that Death Masque actually knew some anime.

"It's… He-" Itami was about to give the correct answer but Rainier placed his hands on Itami's mouth.

"Shh! Don't say it. I will go get a friend to help me." Rainier said before running out.

"Did that guy just said some names of some animes?" Kuwahara asked.

"Yes… yes he did." Kurata replied.

"What is an anime?" Yaoi asked.

"It's entertainment back in Japan. If we ever get out of this alive I will show you some." Itami said.

After a few moment of awkward silence due to the sudden change of tone of events a voice was heard from the prison cell door.

"Just get over there and help me beat his ass!" said Rainier's voice.

"But that's cheating Rain-kun" a voice of a Japanese sounding girl replied. Itami could have sworn he heard that voice before.

"Kanna, only the f****** dead fight fair. So help me or I am gonna have you clean the latrines tomorrow!" Rainier said. He pushed a young girl into the room infront of the JSDF POW's. Itami and Furuta widened their eyes when they saw the girl, and the girl also widened her eyes both in shock.

"Kanna Miyawaki of Akiba 48? Is that you?" Furuta asked.

"Oh my god it's the 'New Ace' of Akiba 48 Kanna Miyawaki! I am a huge fan!" Kuribiyashi cheered in contrast in her current situation.

"You're JSDF? I… I… am so glad to see you! We almost gave up hope." Kanna said.

"'We'? What do you mean?" Itami said.

"Me and forty-three other women here. We got rescued by Rainier and his friends some time ago." Kanna replied.

"Wait, 'the Ginza 43' are alive? We already gave up hope finding you. We all presumed you are all dead." Furuta said.

Kanna paused and stood still when Furuta said those words. She shed a tear that she wiped off quickly. Her face slumped down. She turned around to Rainier and spoke:

"Rain please just let them go. I need to tell this to doctor Shinozaki right now." Kanna said.

"But…" Rainier tried to argue but Kanna placed her finger on his lips to silence him.

"Please, remember what I said back in the hangar?" Kanna said.

 **(Flashback)**

The hangar in _Akmens_ was mostly empty except for a couple of aircrafts that the 19th Mechanized use for aerial recon and close air support. The main purpose of the hangar was to receive the monthly supply drops that cargo ships from Agir would drop ranging from food, medical supplies and firearms. Other than a place to park aircraft, it was mostly an empty space about 4/5's of the place was just empty concrete ground that some of the 19th mechanized would go to do recreational activities where we now see Rainier doing one.

"Seven!" Rainier shouted as he aimed a Cabihan Lever Action Shotgun or the CH-SVB and shot a thrown clay Frisbee midair causing it to crack into pieces. He grabbed a cold can of beer from a mini freezer box next to a camping chair as he leisurely reloaded his shotgun.

Today was his day off for the week where he is give the entire day with no duties to attend to so he decides to go drunk skeet shooting in the empty hangar.

After finishing the beer, he tossed it high in the air and was about to shoot it with his shotgun.

"Hey Rain? Is that you?" said the voice of Kanna behind him.

Rainier, surprised by the sudden noise lost his aiming focus and missed the beer can, causing it to fall back down on to the ground and landed on his head causing a bruise.

"Agh! Jas _Noladets!_ I was about to break my record." Rainier yelled why placing his hand on his bruise.

"Gomen! I didn't know you don't want to be disturbed." Kanna said.

Rainier grabbed another cold can of beer from his ice box and placed it on his bruise then continued to chat with Kanna.

"Well what do you want? Does Doctor Miwako can't find where Miroslav kept the anesthetic?" Rainier asked.

"No, I was told this where you can get a great view of the sun from here. Mind if I sit down?" she asked.

"Ah sure but the beer is mine."

"I don't even drink that much any way makes me light headed."

She sat down next to Rain's chair as he continued to go skeet shooting. He cracked a few clays until he needed to reload his gun again. Just as he grabbed another round of beer to drink Kanna spoke again.

"The sun, it reminds me of home back in Kyushu." Kanna said.

"And where is that?" Rainier asked.

"Well… it's a long story. Have you ever been walking around in your own home one day and then suddenly you were taken away from all of that, your family, friends, your home and forced to live somewhere else and every day you think about ever coming back?"

"No not really. I am honestly used to the sun much or a really bright light in general."

"Well I was taken from my home by the Saderans and they forced me and my friends to be slaves to them. From what I had heard before you came along is that we would be sold for money here in Heopis because of some sort of plan that my former master, Zorzal said. Everything was so fast that I still cannot believe that this was happening." Kanna said.

"Zorzal? You mean that asshole who we are trying to kill from the same place Sadera?"

"Yeah, all I know is that he looks like he needed some money really badly."

"How badly?"

"Like if you are about to be killed off if you don't payback kind of badly."

"Well shit, he must be pulling his hair off when he finds out you and your friends are gone." Rainier said finishing his can of beer before crushing it with the palms of his hands.

"But me and my friends, we still want to go home. You know back to Japan and all I remember is that I was walking in Ginza to go to Akihabara when I saw a gate and I was snatched and taken inside."

"Well, you don't got much of a reason to be here unless your name is Miwako Shin- _Drazt!"_ Rainier stuttered making Kanna giggle.

"Your cute when you do something wrong. You remind me of my best friend back home. Crude, a little dumb but means well."

"Well, if we got the time then, I will see if maybe we can get you home. It's been awhile since we done something that feels and does good. We have been just shooting up the place for a while."

"You promise?" Kanna asked, she stood up with a pleading posture and eyes.

"Yeah, when we got the time, maybe next week. Hey watch this, learned this from my pa back in Agir before he died." Rainier said. He demonstrated his skill with the shotgun when he launched out another clay target in the air. He spins around his lever action shotgun to cock a shell in with only his left 'weak' hand and fired a shot that hit its mark before cranking the lever again by spinning it again.

"Wow!" Kanna clapped.

 **(End Flashback)**

Rainier was silenced for a moment when Kanna told him about his promise to her. The very capturing of her countries national military was the Godsend opportunity that she and all of her friends were waiting for the opportunity to finally return home.

He reached for his pockets and he got a cigar piece and some keys. He lit the cigar and huffed a few puffs before handing the keys to Kanna.

"Release only one of them for now. I need to sort out this mess with Barussa."

"Itami, let Itami out, he is our commanding officer." Kurata said.

"You? Taking orders from a lad a quarter your age? Disgraceful!" Rainier laughed before heading outside.

"Gomenasai, but I should be glad that the JSDF are here." Kanna said as he unlocked Itami's bounds.

 _A few minute later in Barussa's office…_

"Bloody hell, really that's what is going on in Sadera right now? A f*cking regime change?!" Barussa shouted.

"Yes, we kicked out Zorzal after his coup and established Princess Pina as Empress." Itami said. He had explained everything of what happened to him for the past few months from the flame dragon, the Italica battle and the Zorzal coup.

"Okay, so you have been here in this world for about three or four months right?" Doctor Shinozaki asked Itami. The doctor became the representative of the Japanese women that the 19th Mechanized rescued from the Saderans since she has the most contact with the Cygni's and a significant number of the 19th Mechanized, despite having varying degrees of criminal backgrounds, sympathize with the women and trust the young doctor due to being able to heal from their injuries faster than their current selection of doctors and combat lifesavers.

"Yes and were trying to find those who were responsible for the Ginza attack. I was assigned by General Hazama to go find some men in red and black who attacked Alnus the past week." Itami replied.

"You did what?" Shinozaki shouted to Barussa.

"It was a matter of family Doctor that I needed to settle it down for family's sake. None of your business." Prince Kayden said who was called in for an emergency meeting with them.

"Look Doctor and Lieutenant, Me and my boys were mostly going in blind and I was only finishing orders. And I can't even blame myself to, Kayden has a lot of shitbeef with the Saderans and we thought you were just some kiss ass of theirs." Barussa argued.

"Fine! I don't want to argue further with you. Damn your stubborn." Itami wrapped himself with his hands to get rid of the migraine from the dehydration he had earlier went through.

"New subject, whether he is working for himself or Sadera still doesn't change the fact that Prince Zorzal brought soldiers into MY land. He just broke a century old non-aggression pact. This could renew the war with Sadera again once word gets out that he settled up here." Prince Kayden said.

"Then we need to take his ass out and pull it on a fire." Rainier said.

"WE? You mean you and these… these Saderans? F*ck you and you if you think I am going to let someone walk on MY land." Kayden stood up and yelled.

"Sit down your highness. I know you have every reason to want to rip Emperor Molt's balls of and cook it but if this Zorzal fellow gets news about him out here, the war gets revived on everybody here in the region and them economic reforms that you and I worked so hard on goes to hell. We can all agree here that we are going to put Zorzal's head on a silver plate or die trying alright?"

"No, he must be tried and punished for the crimes he had committed in The Hague." Itami crossed his arms.

"I agree too." Doctor Shinozaki said.

"I meant that as a metaphor. We need to gather some intel on Zorzal and then come up with a plan on how to kill him and his lieutenants. Rainier, go to the communications room and have our men spy around for anything. Use favors and our contacts if you have to. Kayden, you need to keep this in the dark from everybody. I don't want to make this a bigger mess than it already is. And as for you, Lieutenant Itami Youji, if you want us to trust you, you and your men gotta do what we ask and now 'ifs' no 'buts' alright and I will guarantee your safe return. Consider that as penance for trying to shoot up my men and meddling in our affairs when you shouldn't."

"But my men were'nt medd-"Itami tried to defend his team's actions but Barussa yelled back.

"I said no 'buts'! You want me to tell Rainier to crack a few bones of your friends or not? Now head back to the brig for now and wait for further orders." Barussa said.

"So what about me and the other forty-three women?" Shinozaki asked.

"We will cross the bridge when we finished this Zorzal shit. Besides, some of the men like having you around helping them get better. And you're not bad for a children's doctor." Barussa said.

"Hai, I will tell them about this. Thank you for your time." Doctor Shinozaki said.

"But I will be places in more of a cheap hotel room separate from where my friends are being held. Am I a prisoner or a guest?" Itami asked.

"You are our guest… in our prison." Rainier sarcastically answered.

 _The next morning_

"We got a hit on a lead on how we can hurt Zorzal Itami, but we will need some of your men's help to do so. Consider this as extra credit okay lad?" Rainier said while holding Itami's bouned hands as he guided him back to Barussa's office.

They went up to his room where Barussa has set up several briefing papers for them. Ludvig, Janis and Andris were also in the room too. They sat down as the colonel began to speak.

"Our contact in the city state of Shaojing has reported one of Zorzal's lieutenants has been depositing constant amounts of gold in the city's bank. The lieutenant is considered by Itami's friend Lelei to be a high ranking general known for his relentless assaults during several military campaigns prior to Zorzal's coup. He has been seen by our contact to go there every Wednesday to the bank with his men hauling gold bars in the bank before our contact went dark before she could gather more intel. We need to reestablish communications with her and find out what else she knows about Zorzal's plans. Itami! You can bring three of your men with you so choose wisely."

" _Ja Kommanderis_!" the Cygni's saluted.

 **Thank you for the support so far and sorry for the delay, got personal stuff to deal with. But work has slowed down pretty much until further noticed but the best case scenario is pretty much until Christmas time.**

 **See ya l8r!**


	8. A Sadistic Choice

**So far I am just sitting around most of the time and I had Finals so sorry for the delay. But I shall tell you, I was resting my brain and I don't usually rush myself. Thank you again for your continued support. I got stuck with school and life so please understand.**

 **Anyway on to the next chapter!**

"He's sleeping like a baby…"

"Hey…"

"He ain't moving…."

"Wake up…."

"I told you…"

"Hold on…"

*clicking and sparking sound followed by an inhale*

"WHOOOSSSSHHH!" Rainier exhaled a cloud of smoke in front of Itami which caused him to jerk and quickly wake up his eyes.

"Hey! Don't do that!" Kuribiyashi said.

"Rain! I told you a hundred of times don't smoke in my car." Janis added as he struggled to push his vehicle from the rough terrain that they are in.

"Oh please relax you fools!" Rainier giggled as he inhaled a thick cigar-like piece on his mouth. He opened the window of the AFV and exhaled a puff of smoke.

The scenery of the desert transitioned to forested mountains after about several hours of travelling for the joint JSDF and 19th Mechanized task force. Itami chose Shino Kuribiyashi and his fellow otaku friend and brother in arm, Takeo Kurata.

Itami had to choose his companions carefully as he was told by Barussa that he could only bring three of his friends who can 'keep silent on somethings' and Barussa emphasized that quote. At first he didn't understand what that man said but he asked Ludvig, who was among all of the 19th Mechanized was the sanest of the bunch as most of them were either insane as Rainier or cynical and suspicious like Janis and Andris.

" _We are going to most likely do something that you and your friends will most likely regret."_ Itami remembered Ludvig saying.

"Ludvig… I mean 'Lud', how far are we now?" Itami asked.

"About a minute or two I think judging by I am seeing people staring at us right now." Ludvig said.

"So who is this contact of yours?" Itami asked further.

"Bank teller, works in the bank in Shaojing, it's a breeding zone of every kind of shady transactions you can think off. Shady lads love their 'Bank Anonymity' policy. You can drop money here and you get weapons, illegal magical sh**, mercs, slaves, anything that needs to kept under the table here in the Western Desert conducts business here." Ludvig replied.

"How do you know all of this?"

"Because we go here to do those things."

"EH!?" all of the Japanese onboard exclaimed.

"Yeah, hey at least I admit it. I mean we go there and fence our stuff and pay off the guards and get out fast." Ludvig added.

"Fence what exactly?" Shino said.

"Drugs, weapons in exchange for gold and silver. AAANNNDDD…. Barussa is in this too!" Ludvig said.

"You're a criminal! Like those Yakuza's!" Kurata said.

"Yeah, we ALL are… (*whispers* so that's what they call them?)" Ludvig scratched behind his end.

"ALL of you? Then those women are…" Kuribiyashi tried to tackle Ludvig but she could hear and feel the cocking and cold steel touch of a pistol aimed right behind her head.

"Lay even a finger on Lud and I will pop two in your brain darlin'." Rainier said.

"Hey!" Itami yelled and drew his pistol.

This cause a chain reaction with the other's inside. Ludvig drew a pistol at Itami and Andris moved a knife near Kurata's neck. The JSDF soon found themselves in a Mexican stand off as nearly everyone in the AFV was now staring possible death in the face (or behind their faces in the case of Shino).

"You drop your weapons all of you right now!" Itami shouted.

"Are these guys going to kill us here?" Kuribiyashi asked nervously, Itami could see the nervousness in her face as she was sweating bullets in contrast to her usual cocky and tomboy nature.

"Barrusa told me we can if you don't cooperate with us. So, either fall in line and don't ask a thing anymore because I am two headshots, a knife shank and a radio call for a POW execution away from killing you and your friends. Now let me ask you, do you wanna see your friends, family and home again?" Rainier asked.

Itami slowly and quietly holstered his pistol, Andris sheathed his knife and Shino quietly sat back down. The Japanese soldiers stared disdainfully at the 19th Mechanized as the shocking realization that they were soldiers with a criminal history.

"We cool now? Cuz lads we are here now. I'll take you to the Inn then wait for our contact there."

 _ **(About 4 hours later, sometime after sun down)**_

Rainier exhaled a huff of his smokes as the group lazily waited for their Shaojing contact in a quiet tavern below their rooms in the inn. His friends and their JSDF 'allies' were at the bar having a meal and a drink together. Ludvig had reprimanded him for threatening the JSDF in such away so he decided to go back to the right foot with them by buying them dinner and chatting with them.

"Okay boys and one lady, let's all forget that Alnus never happened and start anew with our very first Earth to Cygni relationships. Hi I am Ludvig and I am an ex-pickpocket turned into a penal battalion soldier." Ludvig tried to befriend the JSDF.

"You do realize you're a criminal, right?" Itami replied.

"Hey at least I admit it."

"Well then, I am Lieutenant Itami Youji of the JSDF and I am an Otaku too." Itami went in with the flow of the conversation.

"I am Shino Kuribiyashi, same as Itami, JSDF. And I once beat a prince up with my fists" Shino said.

"Oooohhhh…. I love you already!" Rainier smiled and drank a round of beer.

"Takeo Kurata of the JSDF and a happily a cat lover." Kurata said.

"Cat Lover?" Ludvig asked.

"My Fiancé, Persia is a cat woman." Kurata told about his significant other.

"Damn, you got some weird shit playin' with you." Rainier continued to drink.

"So, I never heard about much about 'Penal Battalions' before. How did you get in?" Itami asked.

"' _Iesloditaz Karavir'_ it was a program by our government, basically they gave us an Ultimatumof either serving time in the army or go take a noose on your neck. Most of us chose the army. We were trained and sent on our first mission."

"Tevingrad was basically a shooting gallery with the targets cans shoot back. Back then we would carry only some Submachine Guns and Bolt Action Rifles. We were formerly called the 107th Penal Brigade" Rainier commented.

"Uwaah! What happened?" Shino asked whose curiosity sparked her.

"Defend this vital city that houses a pipeline of oil. Some rebels wanted to get it for themselves and we were basically there to be cannon fodder for the real army to hammer-anvil with. But the army never came because the rebels anticipated this and wiped them out. We were stuck there with only the trucks and cars used for the transportation of the oil as our cover. Then Barussa took charged and ordered us to mount the vehicles, place LMG's, ATGM launchers, anything with a great big punch and told us we will do a last stand with the vehicles."

"More of a last charge than a stand. We expected to die honestly when we rolled out of those garages. When we opened fire at the rebel scum, we caught them with their pants down as they didn't expect us to be improvising with the vehicles that they intended to steal so they can haul of the oil. We forced all of those guys to retreat and we were outnumbered 3 to 1. The Parliament gave us all the honorable award of the Iron Star, kept it on my chest for good luck because damn thing is tough." Rainier showed his medal to the JSDF soldiers and bit it.

"After that, the Parliament ordered us and several other battalions to reform into new regiments and gave us our battalion, '19th Mechanized' and we go to where to danger is greatest." Ludvig said.

"Wow, that's pretty great. I remember reading about some people who joined a similar battalion in France. You're like 'Senpai'… I mean seniors to us. We never actually been in a gunfight before." Kurata said.

"Well no wonder, I was told that you look scared shitless when the boys shot does Sad's back there." Rainier chuckled much to the discontent of the JSDF.

"Hey, don't piss off our guests again. Have you been sleeiping late again? It screws your brain." Ludvig slapped Rainier on the back of his neck.

"Ouch, no need

He then stared at a man in an orange and red striped robe entered the Inn.

"That's our man." Ludvig whispered to Itami as the new comer approached the counter and sat next to them.

"So, how's Barussa?" The man said.

"Fine, how are you?" Rainier replied.

"You know, staring at money that is not yours and flicking off the abacus every day. It's torture. You got what I want?" the Orange-Red man said.

Ludvig opened his pocket to reveal a leather bag. He caressed the bottom of the bag and a smooth friction like sand being stepped on a wet beach in a sunny summer day.

The orange man rubbed his hands eager to get his due as Rainier quietly pushed the bag onto his side.

"So where do I begin?" the Orange man asked.

"Well you can start with why we are here." Itami said.

"Well, the Saderans you see, or at least a group of them have been depositing large sums of gold to the bank every Wednesday for the past few weeks."

"Well, we know they are a rogue group of Saderans who escaped the empire a few months back. Are they trying to safe keep their gold?" Rainier pressed.

"No… that's not the crazy part foreigner. It's where the gold is deposited too."

"Hooked to whom exactly?" Ludvig asked.

"A Nomadic Warlord by the name of Kushluk. A really dangerous man. I heard he drinks the skulls of people he killed."

"Sounds like trouble." Kuribiyashi added.

"Sounds like my kind of man to play with." Rainier laughed as he drank another gulp of wine.

"The good news is that, Kushluk is only working with them for the money. He promised Prince Zorzal about 20,000 horse raiders for some sort of plan the man thought off?"

"What kind of plan?" Rainier asked.

"That, I am afraid I don't know. But I can tell you how you can… 'put the hurt on 'em.'."

"And this is where the bank you work at comes in?" Ludvig said.

"Yes, about a third of the payment for Kushluk is being paid through his bank account here in Shaojing's Imperial Bank that I work in." The Orange man took a folded piece of paper from his pocket and discreetly unfolded it. Itami looked at the paper and soon realized it was some sort of map with scribbles of marks and arrow directions.

"The last of the shipment of gold will arrive tomorrow afternoon. You will retrieve this gold and cut down Kushluk's contribution to whatever Zorzal is planning. I will leave the key for the first layer of the vault"

"Wait… are you asking us to rob a bank?" Itami asked, an expression of disbelief was shown in his face. He was a JSDF Lieutenant and to be made to rob a bank was something that made him ticked his head in disgust.

"I can't do this… WE can't do this." Itami objected much to the surprise of the Cygni soldiers and the Orange Man.

"Oh come on lad, you came this far to help your friends get out of this mess right?" Rainier said.

"You know what, Itami is right. There is no way I am robbing a bank." Kurbiyashi said as she stood up behind Itami.

Rainier impulsively pulled out his pistol and aimed his gun right in front of Itami's forehead. The Otaku JSDF soldier's stature of a fearless exemplar eroded into fearful sweating when the cold steel of gun's barrel poked his head.

"You do know I am both three bullets and a phone call away from killing you and all of your friends in _Akmens_ right?" Rainier sadistically smiled. His gun hand was swatted away by his friend Ludvig causing the trigger of and before Rainier and Itami could fight over, the ex-thief came in between them and pushed them away.

"Everyone! Quiet! Stop! Stop! _Rikjum!_ " Ludvig yelled.

Everyone stood still and a brief moment of paused tension now aired the Inn as nervous patrons stared at them.

"Let's discuss this in our rooms, shall we? And Rainier, let me do the Talking and with my mouth and not your balls you witless ass." Ludvig said as he calmed everyone down.

(In the JSDF's Room)

Midnight has fallen and the Inn now was quiet as the people who had rented rooms went to bed. The JSDF soldiers were about to make do with the subpar beds that they will sleep for the night.

"I can't believe we are going to do this." Kuruta scratched his head in frustration.

"How am I going to tell my parents? Heck how will everyone back in Alnus say if they found out we robbed a bank?" Kuribiyashi said.

"I don't know Shino, but we all don't have a choice." Kuruta said.

"A very sadistic choice." Itami added.

Just then a knock was heard from their room's door.

"Hey, Japanese people, open up its Ludvig. I need to tell you something about tomorrow." Ludvig said from behind the door.

Itami opened the door to let him in. The ex-thief sat down on one of the beds and took a deep breath.

"So, let me tell you some good news. You don't… uhm… 'really' have to participate in the robbery." Ludvig said.

"Really?" Kurata optimistically asked.

"Well not in a physical sense, you will just need to do some indirect tasks for us. Control the civilians, help us carry the thermite to the vault and that's that. Everything is forgiven and you can go home and we can all forget this ever happened. And I greatly apologized for Rainier's Behavior. He gets pissed when he isn't on his _Saklava."_ Ludvig said.

" _Saklava?"_ Itami asked.

"It's drug, a stimulant. Boosts physical performance and increases pain tolerance at the cost of a loss of one's self-preservation instinct and a really massive muscle cramp. He usually sniffs the stuff often but Barussa told him not to bring some because he thinks it will be 'diplomatically disruptive'. I mean our first contact was us shooting at you. He wants to start fresh right now and to sweeten the deal, I just talked to one of your friends back in _Akmens._ A lady named Mari." Ludvig politely said.

"Eh really? How are they doing?" Itami asked.

"They are ok for now. Nothing much really. They have been talking with those 'forty missing women' you guys were so concerned about. I was told that they are all eager to come home." Ludvig replied.

"That's reassuring thank you." Itami said.

"No mention it. Let's just hope that tomorrow the job goes smoothly and we don't have to kill anybody. I maybe a thief but I don't kill my victims unless in self-defense. I have a code."

(Tomorrow near Shaojing's Imperial Bank)

Rainier placed his signature welding mask on top of his head as he inhaled a few puffs of his cigar before throwing it away as the rest of his friends plus the JSDF soldiers walked towards him wearing masks to conceal their identities and carrying a large thermal drill.

"You guys ready for this?" Rainier asked.

"Hai, let's do this quick. Remember I am only doing this for my friends okay?" Itami said.

"Ay! Let's make some money shall we?" Ludvig said.

"I stay here with ride when we get the money Ja?" Janis said.

"Okay you dope let's get rich." Rainier smiled. He locked and cocked his LMG and kicked open the door. Dozens of the bank's customers turned around in shocked as the men carrying strange metal sticks went inside the room.

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and any of you weird as monster people, this ain't a drill! We are actually robbing you!" Rainier shouted.

 **AN: Sorry for the long delay again guys. And you must be surprised about the sudden change of atmosphere from what you guys are used to see in any Gate Fic. I can assure you that everything in this story will one way or the other tie together.**

 **In the meantime I am still developing my OC's since I wanted to have my Main OC, Rainier be a polar opposite of Itami and I hope this chapter is a good establishing character section that I show the contrast between him and our favorite Otaku Soldier (other than the Cat Lover Kurata)**

 **Anyway pls like, subscribe and review (or anything that can help really)**

 **This is GETH Prime or Starmark_115 to those who see me in Reddit signing off for now.**


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